There are two types of economic efficiency: static and dynamic. Static efficiency looks at how efficiently a firm/economy uses its resources at a given point in time, while dynamic efficiency examines improvements in efficiency over time due to factors like technology and competition. Allocative efficiency occurs when the value consumers place on goods equals the cost of producing them, maximizing total welfare. It requires that price equals marginal cost. Productive efficiency means producing at minimum average total cost to minimize waste. Pareto efficiency is reached when resources cannot be reallocated to improve one person's situation without harming another's.

1. Economic Efficiency Section 10.4 Production and Efficiency AS Economics

2. Economic Efficiency Efficiency relates to how well a market or economy allocates scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. Efficiency occurs when society is using its scare resources to produce the highest possible amount of goods and services that consumers most want to buy (produces on PPF) Efficiencies fall into two types:

3. Static & Dynamic Efficiency 1. Static Efficiency How efficient a firm/economy is at a certain point in time All the efficiencies we’re looking at are static efficiencies. 2. Dynamic Efficiency This looks at improvements in technical, allocative and productive efficiency over time. Improvements in dynamic efficiency occur due to improvements in competition, technology, innovation and invention.

4. Allocative Efficiency Allocative efficiency occurs when the value that consumers place on a good or service equals the cost of the resources used up in production The technical condition required for allocative efficiency is that price = marginal cost (same as D=S in a perfect market) When this happens, total economic welfare is maximized When the goods produced are actually what the consumer wants (not like USSR and shoes). In other words it occurs when no-one could be better off without making someone else worse off (Pareto).

5. Showing allocative efficiency Costs Revenues Output (Q) Demand Supply P1 Q1 Consumer Surplus (CS) Producer Surplus (PS) Consumer Surplus (CS) Producer Surplus (CS)

6. A loss of allocative efficiency if output is too low and price too high Costs Revenues Output (Q) Demand Supply P1 Q1 Consumer Surplus (CS) Producer Surplus (PS) P2 Q2 Price level P2 and output Q2 leads to a higher level of producer surplus but a lower level of consumer surplus

7. Deadweight loss of welfare Costs Revenues Output (Q) Demand Supply P1 Q1 Consumer Surplus (CS) Producer Surplus (PS) P2 Q2 Loss of economic welfare from output being below the optimal level

8. A loss of allocative efficiency if output is too high and price too low Costs Revenues Output (Q) Demand Supply P1 Q1 Consumer Surplus (CS) Producer Surplus (PS) P2 Q3

9. Productive efficiency Productive efficiency refers to a firm's costs of production and can be applied both to the short and long run production time-span It is achieved when the output is produced at minimum average total cost (ATC) i.e. when a firm is exploiting most of the available economies of scale (MES) Productive efficiency exists when producers minimize the wastage of resources in their production processes. Any point lying on the production possibility boundary is productively efficient

10. The long run average cost curve Costs Output (Q) SRAC1 SRAC2 SRAC3 Q1 Q2 Q3 AC1 AC2 AC3 LRAC Productive efficiency in the long run is achieved when output is produced at the bottom of the long run average cost curve

11. Productive and allocative efficiency There is little point in producing items at lowest cost if they are not the products most valued by consumers. Productive efficiency is a necessary but insufficient condition for an optimal allocation of resources . Allocative efficiency is also required.

12. X-inefficiency Tendency for costs to rise in a firm with few or no competitors to incentivise cost-cutting. X-inefficiency tends to occur in monopoly situations. Although X-inefficiency can also be caused by a firm simply being too inefficient.

13. Pareto efficiency (optimality) Pareto efficiency occurs when resources cannot be reallocated to make one consumer better off without making someone worse off. Pareto efficiency can be illustrated using a production possibility frontier (PPF) Any point within the PPF is inefficient. Using idle resources to increase output means some consumers gain while no consumers lose.