文档介绍：Consumers, Producers, and the Efficiency of Markets
Chapter 7
Revisiting the Market Equilibrium
Do the equilibrium price and quantity maximize the total welfare of buyers and sellers?
Market equilibrium reflects the way markets allocate scarce resources.
Whether the market allocation is desirable is determined by welfare economics.
Welfare Economics
Welfare economics is the study of how the allocation of resources affects economic well-being.
Buyers and sellers receive benefits from taking part in the market.
The equilibrium in a market maximizes the total welfare of buyers and sellers.
Welfare Economics
Equilibrium in the market results in maximum benefits, and therefore maximum total welfare for both the consumers and the producers of the product.
Welfare Economics
Consumer surplus measures economic welfare from the buyer’s side.
Producer surplus measures economic welfare from the seller’s side.
Consumer Surplus
Willingness to pay is the maximum price that a buyer is willing and able to pay for a good.
It measures how much the buyer values the good or service.
Consumer Surplus
Consumer surplus is the amount a buyer is willing to pay for a good minus the amount the buyer actually pays for it.
Four Possible Buyers’ Willingness to Pay...
Consumer Surplus
The market demand curve depicts the various quantities that buyers would be willing and able to purchase at different prices.