Turuhäirete

Turuhäirete, often translated as market failures, refers to situations where the allocation of goods and services by a free market is not efficient. This inefficiency leads to a suboptimal outcome for society, meaning that resources are not being used in the best possible way.

Several common types of market failures exist. Externalities are a significant category, occurring when the production or consumption of a good or service affects a third party who is not directly involved in the transaction. Positive externalities, such as vaccination or education, benefit society beyond the direct participants, while negative externalities, like pollution from factories or noise from construction, impose costs on others.

Another type of market failure is the existence of public goods. These are goods that are non-excludable, meaning it's difficult to prevent people from consuming them even if they don't pay, and non-rivalrous, meaning one person's consumption does not diminish another's ability to consume them. Examples include national defense or street lighting. Free markets tend to under-provide public goods because individuals can benefit without paying, leading to a free-rider problem.

Information asymmetry is also considered a market failure. This occurs when one party in a transaction has more or better information than the other. This can lead to adverse selection, where the less-informed party makes poor choices, or moral hazard, where the informed party takes on excessive risk because the costs of their actions are borne by others.

Monopolies and oligopolies, characterized by a single seller or a few sellers dominating a market, can also lead to market failures. These firms may restrict output and raise prices above competitive levels, reducing consumer welfare and economic efficiency. Governments often intervene to address market failures through regulations, subsidies, taxes, or the provision of public goods.