Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed.

PART 4 The Economics of the Public Sector

Chapter 10 of 36 Externalities  

Section 7 of 19

Figure 3 - Education and the Social Optimum

In the case of a positive externality

· the social value of the good exceeds the private value of the good

· the optimal quantity Qoptimum is larger than the equilibrium quantity Qmarket

Some activities such as pollution create external costs on third parties.

Other activities create the opposite: external benefits.

The benefit of education is largely private.

The consumer of education becomes a more productive worker and reaps benefits including higher wages.

Education also creates positive externalities.

A more educated population leads to

· increased employment and wealth for society at large

· development and dissemination of technological advances

· lower crime rates

· more informed voters and better government

In Figure 3 the lower private value demand curve with Qmarket amount of education supplied does not include external benefit of education to society.

The optimal quantity of education is found where

· the social-value demand curve and the supply curve

· intersect at optimum equilibrium

After evaluation the planner decides the amount of education supplied and consumed should be Qoptimum, with government tax revenues from higher taxes paying for the difference in price.

This results in the upper social value demand curve.

… …

benefit of education

kyōiku no onkei

教育の恩恵


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