Dictionary

externality en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɛkstəˈnælɪti/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɛkstɚˈnælɪti/ (General-American)
• /ekstəˈnælɪti/ (Australia)

Etymology

From external + -ity. In the economic sense coined by British economist Alfred Marshall in 1890.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) The state of being external or externalized.
   • But according to the theory of the externality of relations, terms acquire from their new relations an added character, which does not either condition, or necessarily alter, the character which they already possess. 1916, Ralph Barton Perry, Present philosophical tendencies, page 319:
2. (countable) A thing that is external relative to something else.
3. (countable) An impact, positive or negative, on any party not involved in a given economic transaction or act.
   • Pigouvian taxes are meant to internalize ‘externalities’, generally understood to be positive or negative side-effects from economic production that are not reflected in the price of production. 2016, Cinnamon P. Carlarne, Kevin R. Gray, Richard Tarasofsky, editors, The Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
   • "(1) Each agency shall identify in writing the specific market failure (such as externalities, market power, lack of information) or other specific problem that it intends to address (including, where applicable, the failures of public institutions) that warrant new agency action, as well as assess the significance of that problem, to enable assessment of whether any new regulation is warranted." 2007, George W. Bush, Executive Order 13422:
   • Waste is a negative externality arising from consumption.

Forms

Deriveds

production externality · network externality · nonexternality

Relateds

collateral damage

Translations (26)

uk екстерна́лія (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · sh eksternost (state of being external) · ru экстерна́лия (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · km ពហិភាព (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · es externalidad (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · sh eksternost (thing that is external relative to something else) · ru вне́шний эффе́кт (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · es exterioridad (state of being external) · fr externalité (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · fi ulkopuolisuus (state of being external) · sh eksternost (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · et välismõju (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · ca externalitat (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · fi ulkopuolisuus (thing that is external relative to something else) · de externer Effekt (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · ro externalitate (state of being external) · ca efecte extern (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · sh eksternalija (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · ro externalitate (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · uk зовнішній ефект (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · hy արտաքին ազդակ (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · sv extern effekt (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · cs externalita (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · fi ulkopuolinen (thing that is external relative to something else) · fi ulkoisvaikutus (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction) · de Externalität (impact on any party not involved in a given economic transaction)