Chapter 8: Non-Market Valuation Methods Flashcards
When do we use market prices directly in conducting an efficiency CBA?
We use market prices directly when they are generated by perfectly competitive markets - markets that are not distorted by monopoly, monopsony, taxes or regulations
When do we use market prices indirectly in conducting an efficiency CBA?
We use market prices indirectly when we adjust them to generate shadow-prices. In this way, prices that are generated in imperfectly competitive markets can provide information that can be used in the CBA
When is there no market price available?
Some project inputs/outputs will have no market and hence no market price is available to use either directly or indirectly
Some examples of non-market outputs/inputs?
- recreational fishing
- a nice view
- air/water pollution
- a life saved
- a disease prevented
What do we do with the changes in quantities of non-marketed goods and services?
Changes in quantities of non-marketed goods and services affect the level of economic welfare
- They need to be valued in efficiency and referent group CBA (but do not enter into market or private)
Why is an analyst very likely to encounter the problem of valuing non-marketed goods in CBA?
- If inputs/outputs don’t have marked prices the market resource allocation will not be efficient
- Governments thus see a need to regulate the private market or undertake public expenditures in areas neglected by the market
What does it suggest if the government wants a CBA?
The fact that the government wants a CBA suggests that there may be non-marketed commodities involved
Why are some outputs/inputs that affect the level of economic welfare not marketed?
- Market: vehicle for trade commodities
- For trade to occur, property rights in the commodities have to be reasonably complete and enforceable
- Buyers may not be willing to pay for an input/output unless they believe they will have full and exclusive use of it and will be able to sell it to someone else if they wish (private goods)
Private Good
The buyer has full and exclusive use of the good for a specified period of time, and will be able to sell it to someone else if they wish
Public Goods
Goods which lack some of the property rights characteristics of private goods, and as a consequence are not supplied in efficient levels by the private market
A pure public good has the following three characteristics
- Non-rivalry in consumption - Consumption of a unit of the good by one individual does not preclude other individuals from simultaneously consuming that unit
- Non-excludaility by producers - Supplying a unit of the good to one person means that everyone can consume that unit if they choose to
- Non-excludability by consumers - Supplying a unit of the good to one person means that everyone will consume that unit whether they wish to or not
A semi-private good
Has one or two of the three pure public good characteristics
Examples of semi-private goods
- Free to air broadcasting (non-rival in consumption and non-excludable by producers)
- An uncontested motorway (excludable by both producers and consumers but non-rival in consumption)
- Some kinds of air pollution (excludable by producers, but non-excludable by consumers and non-rival in consumption)
- An open access fisher (rival in consumption but not excludable by producers)
Classification of goods:
- Rival
- Excludable
Private Goods
- e.g. food, clothing, cars, houses, etc.
Classification of goods:
- Rival
- Non-Excludable
Common Resources
- e.g. fish stocks, timber, city parks, atmosphere
Classification of goods:
- Non-Rival
- Excludable
Natural Monopolies
- e.g. cinemas, cable TV, internet/telecom, bridges/tunnels
Classification of goods:
- Non-Rival
- Non-Excludable
Public Goods
- e.g. free to air TV, national defence, fire/police, sewage, waste disposal, flood protection
External effects
Flows of goods or bags that are generated by the market economy, but are not traded in the market