Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The condition or quality of being external or externalized.
- noun Something that is external.
- noun A cost or benefit that affects people other than those involved in the economic activity that produced it and that is not reflected in prices.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The state of being external.
- noun Superficiality.
- noun An external; an outward rite, ceremony, or form.
- noun Undue regard to externals; the sacrifice of substance to form.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Metaph.) State of being external; exteriority.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable The state of being
external orexternalized . - noun countable A thing that is external relative to something else.
- noun economics, countable An impact, positive or negative, on any party not involved in a given economic transaction or act.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the quality or state of being outside or directed toward or relating to the outside or exterior
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word externality.
Examples
-
In this case, the externality is the relationship with the neighbours, especially since those who would be most disappointed are also likely to be the most active in the community.
-
Fanworks derive meaning from addressing gaps in the source, mysteries — externality is authenticity.
Archive 2009-04-01 Rebecca Tushnet 2009
-
“Because the externality is not fallen upon a few, easily-identifiable parties”
Matthew Yglesias » The Strange Persistence of Carbon Tax Advocates 2009
-
I think the obvious externality is cook-the-books rating agencies.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Two Views of Credit Default Swaps 2010
-
That doesn’t mean there’s an externality – precisely because an externality is by definition not reflected in prices.
-
Oil, along with coal and natural gas, comes with what economists call externality costs, the indirect expenses widely shared by human society.
Martin Cheek: Oil Comes With Hidden Costs Martin Cheek 2011
-
Oil, along with coal and natural gas, comes with what economists call externality costs, the indirect expenses widely shared by human society.
Martin Cheek: Oil Comes With Hidden Costs Martin Cheek 2011
-
Oil, along with coal and natural gas, comes with what economists call externality costs, the indirect expenses widely shared by human society.
Martin Cheek: Oil Comes With Hidden Costs Martin Cheek 2011
-
But, at the same time, to address the climate-change market failure itself (that is, the externality associated with greenhouse gas emissions), carbon pricing will be necessary, for all of the reasons I gave above.
Robert Stavins: Carbon-Pricing and Technology R&D Initiatives: Both Are Necessary, but Neither Is Sufficient Robert Stavins 2010
-
For the economist who views the environment as a subset of the economy, an externality, that is true, because you have if you have no demand for your friend, he will not exist.
The Bayes Who Wasn't There, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009
yoshiyahu commented on the word externality
basically, an eternality is any third party the corporation can get to pick up the liabilities accrued by the corporation --- generally the public. In this way, the corporation gets the profits but the public gets the losses.
January 2, 2007
kewpid commented on the word externality
In an efficient free market, any factor not encapsulated in the price mechanism is an "externality". e.g. the pollution produced by a firm (negative externality), the pollination of a neighbouring orchard by bees (positive externality).
September 24, 2007