Allocative Efficiency Definition| Allocative Efficiency Examples

Allocative Efficiency

What is Allocative Efficiency?

Allocative efficiency is the economic condition in which resources are allocated among competing uses. No further reallocation of resources can make anyone alternative a more attractive option to at least one person, given what they know about other people’s preferences and available alternatives.

Allocative efficiency is when the resources used to produce goods or provide services are used most efficiently. In other words, it is when the goods and services with the highest value are produced with the smallest amount of resources consumed. If consumers are happy with the cost and convenience of a product, then allocative efficiency has been achieved.

A company’s production function is a type of curve that measures what happens to the total cost and total output as more resources are added to production.

Allocative efficiency occurs only at that output where the marginal cost of production is equal to the marginal utility, and this concept applies in different fields for different purposes. It is the idea that society would be better off if resources were allocated to maximize economic output.

The market is allocative efficient when the price of the good is equal to marginal cost.  Allocative efficiency occurs when there are no distortions in a market and resources are allocated efficiently.

Production Costs
For a firm producing chemical substances, the optimum output occurs where the marginal cost of production equals the marginal utility per dollar of income. Here, a decrease in output would mean that marginal costs rise faster than incomes. The situation is represented graphically by an upward sloping MC curve intersecting with a horizontal MU curve at an output level where MC=MU.

For a firm producing cars, the optimum output occurs where the marginal cost of production equals the marginal utility per dollar of income. Here, a decrease in output would mean that marginal costs rise faster than incomes. The situation is represented graphically by a downward sloping MC curve intersecting with a horizontal MU curve at an output level where MC=MU.

Allocative Efficiency  Graph
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The allocative efficiency of an enterprise is achieved at the output where marginal cost and the marginal utility of each good coincide. In other words, MLC=MU for all outputs.

 

Allocative Efficiency  Graph
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The above diagram shows that a producer producing at point Y receives a higher income than one who produces at point X because he/she receives more money per unit. Therefore, an individual producer’s optimum output level occurs where his/her margin is zero.
The allocative efficiency of an economy is reached at the output where marginal cost and the marginal utility of each good coincide. As one producer moves his/her output level upward, the good falls price until it equals MC.

Types of allocative efficiency

There are three types of allocative efficiency:

  • Perfect
  • Quasi-perfect
  • Imperfect

Perfect allocative efficiency occurs when there is no waste or inefficiency in resource allocation.

Quasi-perfect allocative efficiency occurs when there is some degree of waste or inefficiency, but it does not impact the economy as a whole too much.

Imperfect allocative efficiency occurs when there is significant waste or inefficiency.

Pareto Efficiency

Pareto Efficiency is a state in which the total output of an economy is distributed evenly, and no one can be made better off without making someone else worse off. It is the idea that resources are being allocated to their most efficient use.

The concept was first introduced by economist Pareto, who observed that 20% of people would earn 80% of the income in any economy, and 80% of people will earn only 20%. Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, and engineer observed this phenomenon during his study on income distribution in Italy’s agricultural sector.

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It is also known as the “80-20 rule” because in many cases, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes (or conversely, 20% of the causes produce 80% of the effects).

This means that a person’s earnings are not related to how hard they work or how much education they have had. In other words, allocative efficiency cannot be achieved because some individuals will always be more successful than others.

Pareto Efficiency Example

An example of this would be if you had $10 to spend on food but could only buy either apples or oranges. If you bought all the apples, then there would be nothing left for oranges and vice versa.

Allocative Efficiency Examples

Allocative efficiency is when a company allocates resources in the most efficient way possible.  An example of allocative efficiency will be if Company A has two factories, making widgets and another that makes doodads.

The factory making widgets can produce twice as many widgets as the factory making doodads per day, so it’s more efficient for Company A to make only widgets and sell them at a higher price.  This means there are no wasted resources because they are producing what customers want.

This is because allocative efficiency is a measure of how well an economy allocates its scarce resources.  It is the degree to which goods and services are produced in the most efficient manner possible given available inputs. The goal of allocative efficiency is to allocate resources so that they are used to receive the maximum benefit from them.

Another example of allocative efficiency is when an individual has $10 and can buy either a coffee or a muffin for breakfast. They have to choose between these two options because there are no other choices available. If the individual chooses to purchase the coffee, then it means that he values his morning caffeine fix more than he values having something sweet with breakfast.

This means that if this person had another choice, such as buying both items, then they would not choose to purchase only coffee because they value their morning muffin more than their morning cup of coffee.

Allocative Efficiency  Graph

In an efficient market, the price of a good is determined based on two considerations:

 

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Allocative Efficiency  Graph
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The above diagram shows that an individual producer’s optimum output level occurs where his/her margin is zero. The allocative efficiency of an economy is reached at the output where marginal cost and the marginal utility of each good coincide.

As one producer moves his/her output level upward, the good falls price until it equals MC. Therefore, the equilibrium occurs when individuals’ aggregate demands equal aggregate supply (where marginal cost equals marginal utility).

Allocative Efficiency Vs. Productive Efficiency

Allocative efficiency is the degree to which a given set of resources are allocated among competing uses so that no further reallocations could make anyone alternative more attractive. In contrast, productive efficiency is the degree to which inputs are converted into outputs with a minimum cost per unit output.

Allocative efficiency is the extent to which a firm allocates its scarce resources in such a way that it maximizes the value of output produced from those resources.  Productive efficiency is the extent to which a firm produces goods and services at minimum cost.

Allocative efficiency is achieved when there are no unexploited opportunities for increasing economic welfare by reallocating inputs among uses or changing production techniques to increase total output without altering the input mix.  Productive efficiency occurs when firms produce goods and services with minimum costs.

Allocative efficiency can be improved by increasing price-taking behavior, which means that firms cannot charge more than what consumers are willing to pay for their products.  Productive efficiency can be increased by reducing production costs and improving technology.

Allocative efficiency can also be achieved through cost-benefit analysis and marginal analysis, while productive efficiency relies on production functions.

One factory produces 50 units of product A and 50 units of product B, while the other factory produces only 25 units each for products A and B. If both factories have identical production costs, then their allocative efficiencies would be equal (50% for both) but not their productive efficiencies (75% for the first factory; 25% for the second).

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