KALDOR-HICKS EFFICIENCY: A type of efficiency that results if the monetary value of society's resources are maximized. This is achieved if the marginal willingness to pay by those who benefit from an action is equal to the marginal willingness to accept of those harmed. If this condition is not achieved, then a Kaldor-Hicks improvement is possible. Kaldor-Hicks efficiency, named after Nicholas Kaldor and John Hicks, is the theoretical basis of benefit-cost analysis, a technique commonly used to evaluate the desirability of producing public goods (such as parks, highways, or reservoirs). This is one of two noted efficiency criteria used in economics. The other is Pareto efficiency.

     See also | efficiency | willingness to pay | willingness to accept | benefit-cost analysis | Kaldor-Hicks improvement | Pareto efficiency | welfare economics | externality | market failure |

KALDOR-HICKS EFFICIENCY, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 18, 2025].

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A firm faces three production options in the short run based on a comparison between price, average total cost, and average variable cost. If price is greater than average total cost, a firm earns an economic profit by producing the quantity that equates marginal revenue with marginal cost. If price is less than average total cost but greater than average variable cost, a firm incurs an economic loss, but produces the quantity that equates marginal revenue with marginal cost. If price is less than average variable cost, a firm shuts down production in the short run, incurring an economic loss equal to total fixed cost.

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