Distortion (economics)

A distortion is departure from the allocation of economic resources from the state in which each agent maximizes his/her own welfare.[1] A proportional wage-income tax, for instance, is distortionary, whereas a lump-sum tax is not. In a competitive equilibrium, a proportional wage income tax discourages work.[2]

In perfect competition with no externalities, there is zero distortion at market equilibrium of supply and demand where price equals marginal cost for each firm and product. More generally, a measure of distortion is the deviation between the market price of a good and its marginal social cost, that is, the difference between the marginal rate of substitution in consumption and the marginal rate of transformation in production. Such a deviation may result from government regulation, monopoly tariffs and import quotas, which in theory may give rise to rent seeking. Other sources of distortions are uncorrected externalities,[3] different tax rates on goods or income,[4] inflation,[5] and incomplete information. Each of these may lead to a net loss in social surplus.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Alan Deardorff. "Distortion", Deardorff's Glossary of International Economics.
  2. ↑ Stephen D. Williamson (2010). "Sources of Social Inefficiencies," Macroeconomics, 3rd Edition.
  3. ↑ Agnar Sandmo (2008). "Pigouvian taxes." The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. Abstract.
  4. ↑ •Louis Kaplow (2008). "optimal taxation," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. Abstract.
       • Louis Kaplow (2008). "income taxation and optimal policies," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. Abstract.
       • Alan J. Auerbach (2008). "taxation of corporate profits," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. Abstract.
  5. ↑ S. Rao Aiyagari, R. Anton Braun, Zvi Eckstein (1998). "Transaction Services, Inflation, and Welfare," Journal of Political Economy, 106(6), pp. 1274-1301 (press +).
  6. ↑ • T. N. Srinivasan (1987). "distortions," The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 1, pp. 865-67.
       • Joel Slemrod (1990). "Optimal Taxation and Optimal Tax Systems," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4(1), p p. 157-178.


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