Question 1. (a) What is asserted by the First Theorem of Welfare Economics? (b) What is meant in general by the term “market failure”? (c) What is the definition of a real (non-pecuniary) externality? (d) What is the definition of a pecuniary externality? (e) Does the existence of a real externality contradict the First Theorem of Welfare Economics? (f) Does the existence of a pecuniary externality contradict the First Theorem of Welfare Economics? (g) Is it always socially optimal to have a zero level of an activity that generates a harmful externality? (h) If the answer to (g) is “no,” just when is it socially optimal to have a zero level of an activity that generates a harmful externality?
Question
1. (a) What is asserted by the First Theorem of Welfare Economics? (b) What is meant in general by the term
“market failure”? (c) What is the definition of a real (non-pecuniary) externality? (d) What is the definition of a pecuniary externality? (e) Does the existence of a real externality contradict the First Theorem of Welfare Economics? (f) Does the existence of a pecuniary externality contradict the First Theorem of Welfare Economics? (g) Is it always socially optimal to have a zero level of an activity that generates a harmful externality? (h) If the answer to (g) is “no,” just when is it socially optimal to have a zero level of an activity that generates a harmful externality?