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The terms "external economies" and "external diseconomies" were widely
used in the literature for several decades prior to Coase. It seems
reasonable to assume that these terms are the origin of the term
"externalities," but I have no hard evidence to support that at hand.
Francis Bator ("The Anatomy of Market Failure" QJE) used the term
"externalities" in 1958, as did Samuelson (in Re. Stat.). As neither
acted as if they were coining the term, it seems reasonable to assume that
it existed prior to their writing. A quick search of JSTOR reveals
nothing in JSTOR journals under "externality" or "externalities" prior to
Bator though.
Steve Medema
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