WILLINGNESS TO PAY: The price or dollar amount that someone is willing to give up or pay to acquire a good or service. Willingness to pay is the source of the demand price of a good. However, unlike demand price, in which buyers are on the spot of actually giving up the payment, willingness to pay does not require an actual payment. This concept is important to benefit-cost analysis, welfare economics, and efficiency criteria, especially Kaldor-Hicks efficiency. A related concept is willingness to accept. See also | demand price | efficiency | willingness to accept | benefit-cost analysis | welfare economics | Kaldor-Hicks efficiency | Pareto efficiency | externality | market failure |
