Study Notes
Complete and Partial Market Failure
- Level:
- AS, A-Level, IB
- Board:
- AQA, Edexcel, OCR, IB, Eduqas, WJEC
Last updated 14 Oct 2017
Most markets fail to achieve a socially optimum allocation of scarce resources. But we can make an important distinction between complete market failure and partial market failure.
![](https://tutor2u-net.imgix.net/subjects/economics/micro_complete_partial_market_failure.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&q=80&w=800)
Complete market failure - when the market does not supply products at all – there is a missing market
Example: Pure public goods
There is a missing market in the provision of public goods
Partial market failure - when the market functions but it supplies either the wrong quantity of a product or at the wrong price
Example: Negative externalities from production
Most market failures covered in A level Economics are partial - involving a deadweight loss of social welfare
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