Internalizing Externalities via Unified Ownership
When a single entity owns both the activity causing a negative externality and the activity affected by it, the externality is internalized. For instance, if one company owned both the banana plantations and the fisheries, the cost of pesticide damage to fish stocks would become a private cost for the company. [1] This alignment of private costs with social costs would lead the firm to choose the Pareto-efficient output of 38,000 tons, where its marginal private cost equals the market price of $400. [1]
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Ch.10 Market successes and failures: The societal effects of private decisions - The Economy 2.0 Microeconomics @ CORE Econ
The Economy 2.0 Microeconomics @ CORE Econ
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Internalizing Externalities via Unified Ownership
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A large-scale laundry facility's profit-maximizing level of operation releases steam that occasionally drifts over an adjacent, open-air theme park, causing the park to temporarily close some attractions. At this level of operation, the laundry earns a daily profit of $5,000, while the theme park earns a daily profit of $8,000. If the laundry facility were to install a new ventilation system, its daily profit would fall to $4,600, but the theme park's daily profit would rise to $9,000. Which of the following scenarios represents a potential Pareto improvement over the initial situation?
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A factory producing chemicals at its profit-maximizing level releases a byproduct into a river, which reduces the catch for a downstream fishing cooperative. True or False: In this scenario, the only way to reach an outcome where the combined profit of both businesses is higher is through government regulation, such as a tax on the factory's output.
A chemical plant situated on a river earns a daily profit of $10,000. Its operations discharge effluent that reduces the daily profit of a downstream agricultural cooperative. If the plant were to reduce its output by one specific unit, its own daily profit would decrease by $100. This same reduction in output would eliminate the effluent damage associated with that unit, increasing the cooperative's daily profit by $300. If the cooperative offers to pay the plant to reduce its output by that one unit, which of the following payment amounts would be accepted by the plant and also be beneficial for the cooperative?
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An apple orchard benefits from the pollination provided by a neighboring beekeeper's hives, but the orchard owner does not compensate the beekeeper. The beekeeper is considering moving the hives. An analysis shows that the value of the pollination to the orchard is significantly greater than the cost for the beekeeper to stay. This situation, where a potential mutually beneficial agreement exists but has not been made, is an example of a _______________ allocation.
A steel mill's production process pollutes a river, reducing the profits of a downstream fishery. An economist determines that the fishery's potential profit gain from a slight reduction in steel production is greater than the mill's profit loss from that same reduction. Arrange the following events in the logical order that would lead to a mutually beneficial outcome for both the mill and the fishery, without government intervention.
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Coasean Bargaining
Internalizing Externalities via Unified Ownership
A beekeeper's hives are located next to an apple orchard. The bees pollinate the apple trees, which increases the orchard's fruit yield. The apple blossoms provide nectar for the bees, which increases honey production. Initially, the beekeeper and the orchard owner operate as separate businesses and do not coordinate their activities. Which of the following scenarios best demonstrates a private action that leads to these effects being internalized?
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Learn After
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Match each business scenario with the most likely economic outcome related to externalities.
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