eimarkkinahyötyjen

Ei-markkinahyötyjen is a term used in welfare and environmental economics to refer to benefits that accrue to society but are not reflected in market prices or transactions. In Finnish usage, it denotes non-market benefits that are often overlooked in standard cost-benefit analyses which focus on market-based values. These benefits can arise from environmental, social, cultural, or health-related improvements that people value even though they do not buy or sell them in markets.

Common examples of ei-markkinahyötyjen include improvements in air and water quality, preservation of biodiversity, recreational and aesthetic value of natural or urban spaces, cultural heritage maintenance, and enhancements in public health or education. Such benefits can be diffuse, long-term, or difficult to observe through prices alone, making them challenging to quantify.

Valuation of ei-markkinahyötyjen typically relies on a mix of methods. Revealed preference approaches, such as travel cost or hedonic pricing, infer values from observed behavior. Stated preference methods, including contingent valuation and choice experiments, elicit individuals’ willingness to pay for non-market outcomes. Multi-criteria decision analysis or qualitative indicators may be used when monetization is inappropriate or insufficient.

In policy-making, accounting for ei-markkinahyötyjen helps provide a more comprehensive assessment of a proposal’s total welfare impact. They are particularly important in environmental, health, and cultural policies, where the benefits extend beyond direct economic transactions. Challenges include methodological uncertainty, potential biases in valuation, and ethical considerations around monetizing non-market outcomes.