market failure

(noun)

A concept within economic theory describing when the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not efficient.

Related Terms

  • inefficient
  • monopoly

Examples of market failure in the following topics:

  • Defining Market Failure

    • Market failure occurs when the price mechanism fails to account for all of the costs and benefits necessary to provide and consume a good.
    • Market failure occurs when the price mechanism fails to account for all of the costs and benefits necessary to provide and consume a good.
    • Prior to market failure, the supply and demand within the market do not produce quantities of the goods where the price reflects the marginal benefit of consumption.
    • The structure of market systems contributes to market failure.
    • During market failures the government usually responds to varying degrees.
  • Causes of Market Failure

    • Market failure occurs due to inefficiency in the allocation of goods and services.
    • Market failure occurs due to inefficiency in the allocation of goods and services.
    • In order to fully understand market failure, it is important to recognize the reasons why a market can fail.
    • Due to the structure of markets, it is impossible for them to be perfect.
    • When a market fails, the government usually intervenes depending on the reason for the failure.
  • Government Failure

    • Government failure, also known as non-market failure, is the public sector version of market failure .
    • Government failures can occur in relation to both supply and demand within a market.
    • When analyzing government failure, inefficient regulation contributes to market failure.
    • Government corruption leads to both market and government failure.
    • Government failure is an analogy made by the public sector when market failure occurs.
  • Asymmetric Information: Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard

    • Asymmetric information, different information between two parties, leads to the following - adverse selection, moral hazards, and market failure.
    • When a market experiences an imbalance it can lead to market failure.
    • The uneven knowledge causes the price and quantity of goods or services in a market to shift.
    • All of these economic weaknesses have the potential to lead to market failure.
    • A market failure is any scenario where an individual or firm's pursuit of pure self interest leads to inefficient results.
  • The social/cultural environment

    • The cultural environment consists of the influence of religious, family, educational, and social systems in the marketing system.
    • Marketers who intend to market their products overseas may be very sensitive to foreign cultures.
    • While the differences between our cultural background in the United States and those of foreign nations may seem small, marketers who ignore these differences risk failure in implementing marketing programs.
    • Failure to consider cultural differences is one of the primary reasons for marketing failures overseas.
    • A number of cultural differences can cause marketers problems in attempting to market their products overseas.
  • Reasons for Efficiency Loss

    • A monopoly is less efficient in total gains from trade than a competitive market.
    • When a market fails to allocate its resources efficiently, market failure occurs.
    • In the case of monopolies, abuse of power can lead to market failure.
    • Market failure occurs when the price mechanism fails to take into account all of the costs and/or benefits of providing and consuming a good.
    • Market failure in a monopoly can occur because not enough of the good is made available and/or the price of the good is too high.
  • Government Intervention May Fix Inefficient Markets

    • Governments can intervene to make a market more efficient when a market failure, such as externalities or asymmetric information, exists.
    • A market can be said to be economically efficient if it has certain qualities:
    • Market failure is the name for when a market is not efficient; that is, when it deviates from one or more of the above conditions.
    • However, in reality no market is perfectly efficient.
    • Another case in which markets do not operate efficiently on their own is the market for public goods.
  • Success and Failure: Strategies to Improve Success

    • Marketers must learn from their own previous failures, and others' failures, to ensure that they are successful for the next product launch.
    • The following case study describes Wal-Mart's failure to enter the German market, and highlights many of the problems faced by marketers in making a successful product.
    • By learning from the failures of others (and their own prior failures), marketers may learn how to succeed in future.
    • There are four key issues related to Wal-Mart's failure in Germany: (a) market structure and business model; (b) cultural and communication; (c) politics and regulation; and (d) product/service failure.
    • Describe how market structure and business model, culture and communication, political and regulatory, and product/service factors impact a company's market success and failure
  • Allocative Efficiency

    • Free markets iterate towards higher levels of allocative efficiency, aligning the marginal cost of production with the marginal benefit for consumers.
    • Markets are not efficient if it is subject to:
    • Allocative efficiency is the main means to measure the degree markets and public policy improve or harm society or other specific subgroups.
    • For example, for the U.S. to achieve an allocative efficient market, it would need to produce a lot of coffee.
    • Explain resource allocation in terms of consumer and producer surplus and market equilibrium
  • Chapter Questions

    • Why would people deposit their savings into financial intermediaries, instead of directly investing in the financial markets?
    • Identify the two methods the FDIC uses to handle a bank failure.
    • Why did the financial markets in the modern world become international?
    • Distinguish between a money-market mutual fund and a money-market deposit account.
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