Imagine you and a friend are walking down the streetand a $100 bill magically appears. You would likelyshare the money evenly, each taking $50, deeming thisthe fairest division. According to Pareto efficiency, however,any allocation of the $100 would be optimal — including thedistribution you would likely prefer: keeping all $100 foryourself.Pareto efficiency says that an allocation is efficient if anaction makes some individual better off and no individualworse off. The concept was developed by Vilfredo Pareto, anItalian economist and sociologist known for his applicationof mathematics to economic analysis, and particularly for hisManual of Political Economy (1906).Pareto used this work to develophis theory of pure economics,analyze “ophelimity,” his ownterm indicating the power ofgiving satisfaction, and introduceindifference curves. Indoing so, he laid the foundationof modern welfare economics.Because the two individualsin the opening example willnot lose any of the money theyoriginally held, they cannot endup worse off than they started.Any additional amount ofmoney that they receive willmake them better off. If oneindividual keeps all $100, theother will be as well off as hewas before the money appeared. Whether the money issplit evenly or one individual keeps more than the other,Pareto efficiency is achieved.Consider another example: the sale of a used car. Theseller may value the car at $10,000, while the buyer iswilling to pay $15,000 for it. A deal in which the car is sold
for $12,500 would be Pareto efficient because both the
seller and the buyer are better off as a result of the trade. In
this case, they are better off by the same amount: $2,500.
However, any price between $10,000 and $15,000 is Pareto
efficient because the seller receives more value in money
than the value he places on the car, and the buyer values the
car more than the money he pays for it.
Pareto efficiency has applications in game theory,
multicriteria decisionmaking, engineering, and many of
the social sciences. It is a central principle in economics.
In general, an economic allocation problem has several
possible Pareto efficient outcomes. In the marketplace, the
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