Key Terms

Question

Marginal social cost of pollution
Marginal social benefit of pollution
Socially optimal quantity of pollution
External cost
External benefit
Externalities
Negative externalities
Positive externalities
Coase theorem
Transaction costs
Internalize the externalities
Environmental standards
Emissions taxes
Pigouvian taxes
Tradable emissions permits
Pigouvian subsidy
Technology spillover
Network externality
Positive feedback
Excludable
Rival in consumption
Private good
Nonexcludable
Nonrival in consumption
Free-rider problem
Public good
Common resource
Overuse
Artificially scarce good
Welfare state
Government transfer
Poverty program
Social insurance program
Poverty threshold
Poverty rate
Mean household income
Median household income
Gini coefficient
Means-tested
In-kind benefit
Negative income tax
a number that summarizes a country’s level of income inequality based on how unequally income is distributed across the quintiles.
a government program that supplements the income of low-income working families.
a benefit given in the form of goods or services.
the collection of government programs designed to alleviate economic hardship.
a government program designed to provide protection against unpredictable financial distress.
referring to a good, describes the case in which one unit cannot be consumed by more than one person at the same time.
referring to a good, describes the case in which the same unit can be consumed by more than one person at the same time.
external benefits.
the income of the household lying in the middle of the income distribution.
an uncompensated cost that an individual or firm imposes on others; also known as negative externalities.
an external benefit that results when knowledge spreads among individuals and firms.
taxes designed to reduce external costs.
external costs.
rules established by a government to protect the environment by specifying actions by producers and consumers.
a payment designed to encourage activities that yield external benefits.
the depletion of a common resource that occurs when individuals ignore the fact that their use depletes the amount of the resource remaining for others.
the additional cost imposed on society as a whole by an additional unit of pollution.
the annual income below which a family is officially considered poor.
licenses to emit limited quantities of pollutants that can be bought and sold by polluters.
a resource that is nonexcludable and rival in consumption.
referring to a good, describes the case in which the supplier can prevent those who do not pay from consuming the good.
put simply, success breeds success, failure breeds failure; the effect is seen with goods that are subject to network externalities.
the problem that results when individuals who have no incentive to pay for their own consumption of a good take a “free ride” on anyone who does pay; a problem with goods that are nonexcludable.
the case in which the value of a good to an individual is greater when more people also use the good.
a good that is both excludable and rival in consumption.
the proposition that even in the presence of externalities an economy can always reach an efficient solution as long as transaction costs are sufficiently low.
external costs and external benefits.
the quantity of pollution that society would choose if all the costs and benefits of pollution were fully accounted for.
the percentage of the population with incomes below the poverty threshold.
the additional gain to society as a whole from an additional unit of pollution.
referring to a good, describes the case in which the supplier cannot prevent those who do not pay from consuming the good.
the costs to individuals of making a deal.
the average income across all households.
a government payment to an individual or a family.
take into account external costs and external benefits.
a good that is excludable but nonrival in consumption.
a government program designed to aid the poor.
an uncompensated benefit that an individual or firm confers on others; also known as positive externalities.
a good that is both nonexcludable and nonrival in consumption.

Marginal social cost of pollution

Marginal social benefit of pollution

Socially optimal quantity of pollution

External cost

External benefit

Externalities

Negative externalities

Positive externalities

Coase theorem

Transaction costs

Internalize the externalities

Environmental standards

Emissions taxes

Pigouvian taxes

Tradable emissions permits

Pigouvian subsidy

Technology spillover

Network externality

Positive feedback

Excludable

Rival in consumption

Private good

Nonexcludable

Nonrival in consumption

Free-rider problem

Public good

Common resource

Overuse

Artificially scarce good

Welfare state

Government transfer

Poverty program

Social insurance program

Poverty threshold

Poverty rate

Mean household income

Median household income

Gini coefficient

Means-tested

In-kind benefit

Negative income tax