Example of Negative Externality: Bunker Hill Company Lead Poisoning in Idaho

A large-scale pig farming operation is established in a rural area. The farm is profitable, providing jobs and a steady supply of pork to the market. However, the waste from the farm runs off into a nearby river, contaminating the water source for a downstream town. The town must now invest in a costly new water filtration system, and local fishing businesses have collapsed due to the decline in fish populations. The farm does not pay for these downstream costs. In this situation, what is the specific cost that represents the negative consequence for a third party?

Analyzing an Economic Side-Effect

Analyzing an Uncompensated Cost

A chemical factory produces and sells industrial solvents. The manufacturing process releases airborne pollutants that cause health issues for people living in a nearby town. The town's residents face increased medical bills, but the factory does not cover these costs. Match each element of this scenario to its correct economic description.

Identifying Compensated Costs

A car manufacturer discovers a defect in its vehicles that increases fuel consumption for its customers. The company issues a recall and fully compensates all affected car owners for the extra fuel costs they incurred. This situation is an example of a negative externality.

Evaluating Solutions to Urban Congestion

When the production or consumption of a good imposes an uncompensated cost on a third party, such as pollution from a factory affecting nearby residents, this market failure is known as a(n) ________.

A factory that produces widgets also releases pollutants into the air as a byproduct. This pollution imposes health costs on the nearby community. Arrange the following statements to illustrate the logical sequence of events that describes this negative externality and its effect on the market.

An individual's action creates a cost for someone else. In which of the following scenarios is this cost most accurately described as a negative externality?

Marginal External Cost (MEC) (Definition)

Negative Consumption Externality

Solutions to Negative Externalities

Negative Production Externality

Negative Consumption Externalities

Royal Dutch Shell Oil Spills as a Negative Externality

Definition of Social Cost