Final answer:
External benefits, or positive externalities, refer to benefits received by third parties who did not purchase the good or service providing these spillovers. They are contrasted with private benefits that the consumers themselves receive and are often nonrivalrous and resemble public goods.
Step-by-step explanation:
The benefit from a good enjoyed by someone other than the person consuming it is called external benefits or positive externalities. These are beneficial spillovers to a third party or parties, who did not purchase the good or service that provided the externalities. In contrast to private benefits, which are the benefits received by the person who consumes the good or service, external benefits affect individuals who are not directly involved in a transaction.
Examples of positive externalities can be seen in education, public health initiatives, or the maintenance of public parks. These are often nonrivalrous, meaning that even when one person uses the good, others can also benefit from it, making them akin to a public good that is nonexcludable and nonrival, challenging market producers to sell to individual consumers.