Market failure, inequality and redistribution

Authors

  • Jean-Marie Dufour McGill University

Keywords:

positive economics, normative economics, welfare economics, market, failure, externality, taxation, social choice, public choice

Abstract

We consider the following question: does market failure justify redistribution? We argue that the general answer to this question is no, in the sense that policies for correcting market failures do not aim at producing a "desirable" income distribution. This follows from the fact that, by construction, market failure is a deviation from "efficiency" that does not involve any notion of a desirable distribution of welfare (or income). However, there are special cases where a "corrective measure" involving redistribution can offset a market failure, so this can provide a form of efficiencybased justification for redistribution.

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Published

2024-01-12

How to Cite

Dufour, J.-M. (2024). Market failure, inequality and redistribution. Ética, economía Y Bienes Comunes, 6(1). Retrieved from https://journal.upaep.mx/index.php/EthicsEconomicsandCommonGoods/article/view/161

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2008)

Section

Essays

License

Creative Commons License

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