Markedsskjevninger

Markedsskjevninger, often translated as market distortions, refer to situations where the natural allocation of goods and services by the free market is disrupted by factors that prevent optimal efficiency. These distortions can arise from various sources, leading to prices that do not accurately reflect the true costs or benefits of production and consumption.

One common type of market distortion is government intervention. This can include policies like price controls, subsidies, or excessive regulation. Price ceilings, for instance, can lead to shortages if set below the equilibrium price, while price floors can create surpluses. Subsidies, intended to help certain industries, can artificially lower prices and encourage overproduction, leading to inefficient resource allocation.

Externalities also cause market distortions. A negative externality, such as pollution from a factory, imposes costs on society that are not borne by the producer or consumer, leading to overproduction of the polluting good. Conversely, a positive externality, like the benefits of vaccinations to public health, results in underproduction because the full social benefit is not captured by the individual.

Information asymmetry is another factor. When one party in a transaction has more or better information than the other, it can lead to suboptimal outcomes. For example, in the used car market, sellers often know more about a car's condition than buyers, potentially leading to the sale of lemons at inflated prices. Monopolies and oligopolies, by limiting competition, also distort markets, allowing firms to set prices higher than they would in a competitive environment. These distortions collectively hinder the market's ability to achieve allocative efficiency.