Term
| law of diminishing marginal utility |
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Definition
| The principle that as a consumer increases the consumption of a good or service, the marginal utility obtained from each additional unit of the good or service decrease. |
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Term
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Definition
| The want-satisfying power of a good or service; the satisfaction or pleasure a consumer obtains from the consumption of a good or service (or from the consumption of a collection of goods and services). |
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Definition
| The total amount of satisfaction derived from the consumption of a single product or a combination of products. |
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Term
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Definition
| The extra utility a consumer obtains from the consumption of 1 additional unit of a good or service; equal to the change in total utility divided by the change in the quantity consumed. |
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Term
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Definition
| Human behavior based on comparison of marginal costs and marginal benefits; behavior designed to maximize total utility. |
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Term
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Definition
| The limit that the size of a consumer's income (and the prices that must be paid for goods of a services) imposes on the ability of that consumer to obtain goods and services |
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Term
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Definition
| The principle that to obtain the greatest utility, a consumer should allocate money income so that the last dollar spent on each good or service yeilds the same marginal utility. |
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Term
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Definition
| In marginal utility theory, the combination of goods purchased based on marginal utility (MU) and price (P) that maximizes total utility; the combination for goods x and y at which MU/P of x = PU/P of y. In indifference curve analysis, the combination of goods purchased that maximize total utility by enabling the consumer to reach the highest indifference curve, given the consumer's budget line (or budget constraint). |
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Term
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Definition
| A change in the quantity demanded of a product that results from the change in real income (purchasing power) caused by a change in the product's price. |
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Term
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Definition
| (1) A change in the quantity demanded of a consumer good that results from a change in its relative exensiveness caused by a change in the product's price; (2) the effect of a change in the price of a resource on the quantity of the resource employed by a firm, assuming no change in its output. |
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Term
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Definition
| The branch of economics that combines insights from economics, psychology, and neuroscience to give a better explanation of choice behavior than previous theories that incorrectly concluded that consumers were always rational, deliberate, and unemotional. Behavioral economics explains: framing effects, anchoring, mental accounting, the endowment effect, and how people are loss averse. |
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Term
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Definition
| The existing state of affairs; in prospect theory, the current situation from which gains and losses are calculated. |
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Term
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Definition
| In prospect theory, the property of people's preferences that the pain generated by losses feels substantially more intense than the pleasure generated by gains. |
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Term
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Definition
| A behavioral economics theory of preferences having three main features: (1) people evaluate opinions on the basis of whether they generate gains or losses relative to the status quo; (2) gains are subject to diminishing marginal utility, while losses are subject to diminishing marginal disutility; and (3) people are loss averse. |
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Term
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Definition
| In prospect theory, changes in people's decision-making caused by new information that alters the context, or "frame of reference," that they use to judge whether options are viewed as gains or losses. |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency people have to unconsciously base, or "anchor" the valuation of an item they are currently thinking about on previously considered but logically irrelevant information |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency people have to create separate "mental boxes" (or "accounts") in which they deal with particular financial transactions in isolation rather than dealing with them as part of their overall decision-making process that considers how to best allocate their limited budgets using the utility-maximizing rule. |
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Definition
| The tendency people have to place higher valuations on items they own than on identical items that they do not own. P{erhaps caused by people being loss averse. |
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Definition
| A line that shows the different combinations of two products a customer can purchase with a specific money income, given the products' prices |
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Term
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Definition
| A curve showing the different combinations of two products that yield the same satisfaction or utility to a customer |
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Term
| marginal rate of substitution (MRS) |
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Definition
| The rate at which a consumer is willing to substitute one good for another (from a given combination of goods) and remain equally satisfied (have the same total utility); equal to the slope of a consumer's indifference curve at each point on the curve. |
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Term
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Definition
| A set of indifference curves, each representing a different level of utility, that together show the preferences of a consumer. |
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Term
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Definition
| In the indifference curve model, the combination of two goods at which a consumer maximizes his or her utility( reaches the highest attainable indifference curve), given a limited amount to spend (a budget constraint) |
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Term
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Definition
| A payment that must be made to obtain and retain the services of a resource; the income a firm must provide to a resource supplier to attract the resource away from an alternative use; equal to the quantity of other products that cannot be produced when resources are instead used to make a particular product. |
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Definition
| The monetary payment a firm must make to an outsider to obtain a resource. |
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Term
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Definition
| The monetary income a firm sacrifices when it uses a resource it owns rather than supplying the resource in the market; equal to what the resource could have earned in the best-paying alternative employment; includes a normal profit |
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Term
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Definition
| The total revenue of a firm less its explicit costs; the profit (or net income) that appears on accounting statements and that is reported to the government for tax purposes |
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Definition
| The total revenue of a firm less its explicity costs; the profit (or net income) that appears on accounting statements and that is reported to the government for tax purposes |
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Definition
| The total revenue of a firm less its economic costs (which include both explicit and implicit costs); also called "pure profit" and "above-normal profit". |
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Term
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Definition
| (1) In microeconomics, a period of time in which producers are able to change the quantities of some but not all of the resources they employ; a period in which some resources (usually plant) are fixed and some are variable. (2) In macroeconomics, a period in which nominal wages and other input prices do not change in response to a change in the price level. |
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Term
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Definition
| (1) In mircoeconomics, a period of time long enough to enable producers of a product to change the quantities of all the resources they employ; period in which all resources and costs are variable and no resources or costs are fixed. (2) In macroeconomics, a period sufficiently long for nominal wages and other input prices to change in response to a change in a nation's price level |
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Definition
| The total output of a particular good or service produced by a firm (or a group of firms or the entire economy) |
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Term
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Definition
| The additional output produced when 1 additional unit of a resource is employed (the quantity of all other resources employed remaining constant); equal to the change in total product divided by the change in the quantity of a resource employed. |
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Term
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Definition
| The total output produced per unit of a resource employed (total product divided by the quantit |
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Term
| law of diminishing returns |
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Definition
| The principle that as successive increments of a variable resource are added to a fixed resource, the marginal product of the variable resource will eventually decrease. |
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Term
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Definition
| Any cost that in total does not change when the firm changes its output; the cost of fixed resources. |
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Term
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Definition
| A cost that in total increases when the firm increases its output and decreases when the firm reduces its output. |
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Term
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Definition
| The sum of fixed cost and variable cost |
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Term
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Definition
| A firm's total fixed cost divided by output (the quantity of product produced). |
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Term
| average variable cost (AVC) |
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Definition
| A firm's total variable cost divided by output (the quantity of product produced). |
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Term
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Definition
| A firm's total cost divided by output (the quantity of product produced); equal to average fixed cost plus average variable cost |
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Term
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Definition
| The extra (additional) cost of producing 1 more unit of output; equal to the change in total cost divided by the change in output (and, in the short run, to the change in total variable cost divided by the change in output). |
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Term
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Definition
| Reductions in the average total cost of producing a product as the firm expands the size of its plant (its output) in the long run; the economies of mass production. |
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Term
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Definition
| Increases in the average total cost of producing a product as the firm expands the size of its plant (its output) in the long run. |
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Term
| constant returns to scale |
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Definition
| Unchanging average total cost of producing a product as the firm expands the size of its plant (its output) in the long run |
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Term
| minimum efficient scale (MES) |
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Definition
| The lowest level of output at which a firm can minimize long-run average total cost. |
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Term
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Definition
| An industry in which economies of scale are so great that a single firm can produce the product at a lower average total cost than would be possible if more than one firm produces the product. |
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Term
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Definition
| A market structure in which a very large number of firms sells a standardized product, into which entry is very easy, in which the individual seller has no control over the product price, and in which there is no nonprice competition; a market characterized by a very large number of buyers and sellers. |
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Term
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Definition
| A market structure in which one firm sells a unique product, into which entry is blocked, in which the single firm has considerable control over product price, and in which nonprice competition may or may not be found. |
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Term
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Definition
| A market structure in which many firms sell a differentiated product, into which entry is relatively easy, |
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Term
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Definition
| A market structure in which a few firms sell either a standardized or differentiated product, into which entry is difficult, in which the firm has limited control over product price because of mutual interdependence (except when there is collusion among firms), and in which there is typically nonprice competition. |
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Term
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Definition
| All market structures except pure competition; includes monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. |
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Term
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Definition
| A seller (or buyer) that is unable to affect the price at which a product or resource sells by changing the amount it sells (or buys). |
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Term
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Definition
| Total revenue from the sale of a product divided by the quantity of the product sold (demanded); equal to the price at which the product is sold when all units of the product are sold at the same price. |
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Term
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Definition
| The total number of dollars received by a firm (or firms) from the sale of a product; equal o the total expenditures for the product produced by the firm (or firms); equal to the quantity sold (demanded) multiplied by the price at which it is sold. |
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Term
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Definition
| The change in total revenue that results from the sale of 1 additional unit of a firm's product; equal to the change in total revenue divided by the change in the quantity of the product sold. |
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Term
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Definition
| An output at which a firm makes a normal profit (total revenue = total cost) but not an economic profit |
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Term
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Definition
| The principle that a firm will maximize its profit (or minimize its losses) by producing the output at which marginal revenue and marginal cost are equal, provided product price is equal to or greater than average variable cost. |
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Term
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Definition
| A supply curve that shows the quantity of a product a firm in a purely competitive industry will offer to sell at various prices in the short run; the portion of the firm's short-run marginal cost curve that lies above its average-variable-cost curve. |
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Term
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Definition
| As it applies to macroeconomics, a supply curve for which price, but not real output, changes when the demand curves shifts; a vertical supply curve that implies fully flexible prices. |
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Term
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Definition
| An industry in which the expansion by the entry of new firms has no effect on the prices firms in the industry must pay for resources and thus no effect on production costs. |
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Term
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Definition
| An industry in which the expansion through the entry of new firms raises the prices firms in the industry must pay for resources and therefore increases their production costs. |
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Term
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Definition
| An industry in which expansion through the entry of firms lowers the prices that firms in the industry must pay for resources and therefore decreases their production costs. |
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Term
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Definition
| The production of a good in the least costly way; occurs when production takes place at the output at which average total cost is a minimum and marginal product per dollar's worth of input is the same for all inputs |
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Term
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Definition
| The apportionment of resources among firms and industries to obtain the production of the products most wanted by society (consumers); the output of each product at which its marginal cost and price or marginal benefit are equal, and at which the sum of consumer surplus and producer surplus is maximized |
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Term
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Definition
| The difference between the maximum price a consumer is (or consumers are) willing to pay for an additional unit of a product and its market price; the triangular area below the demand curve and above the market price. |
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Term
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Definition
| The difference between the actual price a producer receives (or producers receive) and the minimum acceptable price; the triangular area above the supply curve and below the market price. |
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Term
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Definition
| The hypothesis that the creation of new products and production methods simultaneously destroys the market power of existing monopolies. |
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Term
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Definition
| A market structure in which one firm sells a unique product, into which entry is blocked, in which the single firm has considerable control over product price, and in which nonprice competition may or may not be found. |
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Term
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Definition
| Anything that artificially prevents the entry of firms into an industry. |
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Term
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Definition
| The same-time derivation of utility from some product by a large number of consumers |
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Term
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Definition
| Increases in the value of a product to each user, including existing users, as the total number of users rises. |
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Term
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Definition
| The production of output, whatever its level, at a higher average (and total) cost than is necessary for producing that level of output |
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Term
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Definition
| The actions by persons, firms, or unions to gain special benefits from the government at the taxpayers' or someone else's expense. |
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Term
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Definition
| The selling of a product to different buyers at different prices when the price differences are not justified by differences in cost. |
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Term
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Definition
| The price of a product that results in the most efficient allocation of an economy's resources and that is equal to the marginal cost of the product |
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Term
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Definition
| The price of a product that enables its producer to obtain a normal profit and that is equal to the average total cost of producing it. |
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Term
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Definition
| A market structure in which many firms sell a differentiated product, into which entry is relatively easy, in which the firm has some control over its product price, and in which there is considerable nonprice competition |
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Term
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Definition
| A strategy in which one firm's product is distinguished from competing products by means of its design, related services, quality, location, or other attributes (except price) |
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Term
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Definition
| Competition based on distinguishing one's product by means of product differentiation and then advertising the distinguished product to consumers |
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Term
| four-firm concentration ratio |
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Definition
| The percentage of total industry sales accounted for by the top four firms in the industry. |
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Term
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Definition
| A measure of the concentration and competitiveness of an industry; calculated as the sum of the squared percentage market shares of the individual firms in the industry. |
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Term
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Definition
| Plant resources that are underused when imperfectly competitive firms produce less output than that associated with achieving minimum average total cost. |
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Term
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Definition
| A market structure in which a few firms sell either a standardized or differentiated product, into which entry is difficult, in which the firm has limited control over product price because of mutual interdependence (except when ther is collusion among firms), and in which there is typically nonprice competition. |
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Term
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Definition
| An oligopy in which the firms produce a standardized product |
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Term
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Definition
| An oligopoly in which firms produce a differentiated product |
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Term
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Definition
| Self-interested economic actions that take into account the expected reactions of others. |
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Term
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Definition
| A situation in which a change in price strategy (or in some other strategy) by one firm will affect the sales and profits of another firm (or other firms). Any firm that makes such a change can expect the other rivals to react to the change. |
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Term
| interindustry competition |
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Definition
| The competition for sales between the products of one industry and the products of another industry |
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Term
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Definition
| The competition that domestic firms encounter from the products and services of foreign producers. |
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Term
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Definition
| A means of analyzing the business behavior of oligopolists that uses the of strategy associated with games such as chess and bridge. |
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Term
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Definition
| A situation in which firms act together and in agreement (collude) to fix prices, divide a market, or otherwise restrict competition |
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Term
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Definition
| The demand curve for a noncollusive oligopolist, which is based on the assumption that rivals will match a price decrease and will ignore a price increase. |
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Term
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Definition
| Successive and continued decreases in prices charged by firms in an oligopolistic industry. Each firm lowers its price below rivals' prices, hoping to increase its sales and revenues at its rivals' expense. |
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Term
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Definition
| A formal agreement among firms (or countries) in an industry to set the price of a product and establish the outputs of the individual firms (or countries) or to divide the market for the product geographically |
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Term
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Definition
| An informal method that firms in an oligopoly may employ to set the price of their product. One firm (the leader) is the first to announce a change in price, and the other firms (the followers) soon announce identical or similar changes. |
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