DEADWEIGHT LOSS: A net loss in social welfare that results because the benefit generated by an action differs from the foregone opportunity cost. This is usually the combination of lost consumer surplus and lost producer surplus, and indicates of the inefficiency of a situation. Deadweight loss is commonly illustrated by a market diagram if the quantity of output produced results in a demand price that exceeds the supply price. The triangle formed by the demand curve above, supply curve below, and quantity to the left is the area of deadweight loss. If demand price equals supply price, this triangle disappears and so too does the deadweight loss. Deadweight loss can result from government actions (taxes, price controls) or from market failures (externalities, market control)

     See also | efficiency | welfare economics | demand price | supply price | inefficiency | market | tax incidence | price ceiling | price floor | externalities | market control |

DEADWEIGHT LOSS, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2024. [Accessed: May 2, 2024].

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An inefficient, bad, or adverse outcome of a market exchange that results because buyers and/or sellers make decisions based on asymmetric information. This commonly results in a market that exchanges a lesser quality good, what is termed the market for lemons. Two related problems resulting from asymmetric information are moral hazard and the principal-agent problem. Two methods of lessoning the problem of adverse selection are signalling and screening.

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