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Welfare Economics and Equity
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Consumer Sovereignty
The assertion that consumer preferences determine the production of goods and services, influencing the allocation of resources in a market economy.
Social Welfare Function
A function that ranks social states as less desirable, more desirable, or indifferent for society, based on the set of individual utilities.
Opportunity Cost
The loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen, an essential concept for understanding the trade-offs of resource allocation.
Market Failure
A situation in which the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not efficient, often leading to a net social welfare loss.
Lump-Sum Tax
A tax that is a constant amount, no matter the change in circumstance of the taxed entity.
Pigouvian Tax
A tax on any market activity that generates negative externalities, intended to correct an inefficient market outcome and does so by being set equal to the social cost of the negative externalities.
Progressive Taxation
A tax rate that increases as the taxable amount increases, with the purpose of redistributing income to address social welfare and equity.
Minimum Wage Laws
Legislation that establishes a lowest legally acceptable pay that workers can receive from employers, aiming to ensure a living wage and reduce poverty.
Veblen Goods
Goods for which demand increases as the price increases, due to their exclusive nature and appeal as status symbols, contrary to the law of demand.
Merit Goods
Goods and services that governments believe will be under-provided by the market and so are often provided free at the point of use so that consumption does not depend primarily on the ability to pay for the good or service.
Utilitarianism
An ethical theory that prescribes actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the majority of a population.
Basic Income
A program where the government provides a regular, unconditional sum of money to all citizens regardless of whether they are employed or meet any other condition.
Pareto Efficiency
A state where it is impossible to make any one individual better off without making at least one individual worse off, focusing on efficiency rather than equity.
Lorenz Curve
A graphical representation of the distribution of income or wealth within a society, providing a visualization of inequality.
Externality
A consequence of an industrial or commercial activity which affects other parties without this being reflected in market prices.
Sen's Capability Approach
A sociopolitical framework that conceptualizes and evaluates individual well-being, focusing on the true freedom individuals have to pursue the goals they choose.
Gini Coefficient
A measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the income or wealth distribution of a nation's residents, and is the most commonly used measure of inequality.
Equity-Efficiency Tradeoff
A common economic concept and a potential conflict between objectives of fairness (equity) and optimal resource allocation (efficiency).
Income Redistribution
The transfer of income, wealth, or property from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, charity, welfare, land reforms, monetary policies, confiscation, divorce, or tort law.
Compensation Principle
A principle that suggests that a change in the economy is a Pareto improvement if those that are made better off could hypothetically compensate those that are made worse off, and still be better off.
Rawls' Theory of Justice
A theoretical framework that proposes principles of justice that should be followed to ensure fairness in the distribution of wealth, income, and opportunity.
Public Goods
Goods that are non-excludable and non-rivalrous in consumption, which means that individuals cannot be effectively excluded from use and where use by one individual does not reduce availability to others.
Deadweight Loss
The loss of economic efficiency that can occur when equilibrium for a good or service is not achieved or is not achievable, often due to taxes or subsidies creating a difference between supply and demand.
Subsidy
A form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy.
Kaldor-Hicks Efficiency
An economic principle that states an allocation is more efficient if those that are made better off could hypothetically compensate those that are made worse off, so that a net gain occurs.
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