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SFU Geog 221 Terms and Defs Spring 2013
Exactly what the title says...
104
Economics
Undergraduate 2
04/02/2013

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Term
Neoclassical economics
Definition
mainstream economics developed in 19th C as a formal abstraction of economic behaviours. In theory the system is rational, self-interested and completely informed.
Term
Institutions
Definition
Exist as both Formal and Informal, restraints that modify human behaviour in some form (eg, social movements, government laws, habits, rules of thumb).
Term
Place
Definition
A specific location or area (eg, a neighborhood).
Term
Space
Definition
The area over which interactions take place (eg, in theory also could be a neighborhood, but they mean bigger, like a city).
Term
Market Economies
Definition
Societies that rely on market institutions to organize the production of goods/services for consumption.
Term
Markets
Definition
Institutions for the exchange of goods and services.
Term
Embedded
Definition
A term to describe things that are integrated with one another.
Term
Market Failure
Definition
Situations where a market fails to work properly, with social/environmental consequences.
Term
Open Market
Definition
Numerous buyers and suppliers.
Term
Relational Market
Definition
Market characterized by repeated transactions and a stable group of suppliers and buyers. Collaboration often occurrs.
Term
Administered Market
Definition
Market internal to a particular organization.
Term
Transaction Costs
Definition
Costs of using a market (for both buyers and sellers)
Term
Countervailing Power
Definition
The power that major institutions use to constrain the power of big business.
Term
Perfect Competition
Definition
The ideal market model in neo-classical theory where self regulation would result from fair competition and multiple buyers and sellers.
Term
Homo Economicus
Definition
The economic man, personification of rationality in neo-classical economics. Possessing all the information and would always seek to optimize profit and cut loss.
Term
Ceteris Paribus
Definition
Latin for “assuming all things equal”.
Term
Central Place Theory
Definition
Theory of how markets both evolve in response to the distribution on consumers and how markets organize economic activity over space.
Term
Range of a good/service
Definition
The distance that consumers are willing to travel for a good/service.
Term
Threshold Population
Definition
The min. population required to ensure that demand is enough to merit the continued production of a good
Term
Moral Hazard
Definition
A form of opportunism where people take abnormal risks because they are protected in some manner (eg, insured against loss).
Term
Value Chain
Definition
Interrelated activities required to produce a product and distribute it.
Term
Property Rights
Definition
The rights attached to ownership of an asset and associated income or benefits.
Term
Formal Institutions
Definition
Structured constraints on human behaviour (eg, the law or company regs).
Term
Informal Institutions
Definition
Tacit, culturally rooted constraints on human behaviour.
Term
Monopoly
Definition
A market controlled by a single supplier
Term
Oligopoly
Definition
A market dominated by relatively few suppliers.
Term
Geographic multipliers
Definition
The ratio of total economic impacts to the initial economic impact of a new development within a region.
Term
industrial districts
Definition
an agglomeration of related economic activities in a particular place; traditionally used in the context of manufacturing activities.
Term
clusters
Definition
the spatial concentration of related manufacturing and service activities; also increasingly used to refer to industrial districts.
Term
Division of labour
Definition
the allocation of specific jobs to different people and by extension to equipment and places (ie: specialization)
Term
social division of labour
Definition
the distribution of tasks among firms in an economy. in practice this term is often used when small firms play important roles.
Term
spatial divisions of labour
Definition
the allocation of specialized tasks among and within places and across space
Term
economies of scale
Definition
a reduction in average costs of production achieved by increasing the scale of a particular activity.
Term
geographic region
Definition
a territory or area with certain characteristics that distinguish it from contiguous territories (eg, social, physical or political differences)
Term
economies of scope
Definition
a reduction of average costs of production achieved through using existing resources to perform tasks over a range of product categories
Term
variable costs
Definition
costs that vary with the scale of activity
Term
fixed costs
Definition
costs that remain the same regardless of the scale of activity
Term
sunk costs
Definition
investments in physical capital that are essentially fixed in place and cannot easily be moved (eg: factories or extraction plants)
Term
minimum efficient (optimal) scale

aka MES/MOS
Definition
the lowest level of output at which a plant or firm minimizes average costs that are low enough to make production viable
Term
firm-level economies (or diseconomies) of scale
Definition
reductions (increases) in average costs of production resulting from increasing levels of output.
Term
logistics
Definition
management of the flow of goods and services from points of origin to points of destination.
Term
product differentiation
Definition
modification of a product to create technologically/stylistically similar but different products to serve distinct market niches, usually results in economies of scope.
Term
external economies (or diseconomies) of scale
Definition
reductions (increases) in average costs of production resulting from location in urban-industrial centres of ec activity rather than small places
Term
urbanization economies
Definition
reductions in average costs of production or economic advantages resulting from location in urban agglomerations that provide diverse labour pools and economic and social infrastructure.
Term
localization economies (or diseconomies) of scale
Definition
reductions (increases) in average costs of production resulting from location in agglomerations of related economic activities.
Term
institutional thickness
Definition
the range of external economies provided to local firms by institutions (private and public) such as industrial associations or govt planning depts.
Term
immobile economies
Definition
external economies that are available only when the firms concerned are in close proximity to one another.
Term
multiplier
Definition
how an initial spurt of growth in one activity generates growth in other activities.
Term
branch plants
Definition
a plan or factory that is owned and controlled by a company whose head office is elsewhere
Term
diseconomies of scale
Definition
costs and disadvantages associated with agglomerations of economic activity
Term
negative externalities
Definition
costs that fall on third parties and the environment that were not taken into account in the decisions made by market actors
Term
plant-level economics (or diseconomies) of scale
Definition
reductions (increases) in average costs of production resulting from increasing levels of output within a plant or factory
Term
public goods
Definition
goods and services that are available to everyone in a society either ast no direct charge or at prices below the actual cost of supplying them.
Term
globalization
Definition
a term with multiple meanings:

often used as shorthand for the distinguishing features of the current stage of capitalist development: intensification of international market exchange and qualitative change in the relationships between markets and governments
Term
New International Division of Labour (NIDL)
Definition
a term initially used in the 1970's to refer to the establishment of export-based secondary manufacturing in developing countries. has evolved since it's birth
Term
space-time and space-cost distanciation
Definition
the cost and time of moving goods/info/services and people across space.
Term
free trade
Definition
market exchanges without political interference in the form of tariff and non tariff barriers
IE goods/services/investment
Term
neoliberalism
Definition
the school of thought that emphasizes the power of markets to meet society's needs and argues for minimal gov't interference in the economy

often advocates for deregulation and privatization of the services provided by the public sector
Term
non-tariff barriers
Definition
restrictions on imports that use other means than taxation to control their movement (EG: quotas or inspection reqs)
Term
protectionism
Definition
protecting domestic industries by imposing penalties or restrictions on market exchanges between countries
Term
tariffs
Definition
taxes imposed on goods/services imported into a country
Term
competitive advantage model
Definition
proposes that a region or nation (or firm or individual) should specialize in the goods and services that it can produce more efficiently than others.
Term
opportunity costs
Definition
the potential benefits that are lost when one alternative is chosen over another
Term
competitive advantage
Definition
proposes that businesses and gov'ts should actively seek out and shape opportunities for specialization and trade.
Term
sustainable development
Definition
economic growth that can be sustained over long periods of time without harming the env.
Term
GDP
Definition
gross domestic product, the total value of market related activity in a nation over a period of time, usually a year

GNP (gross national product) is a related but different term that also accounts for whatever income was earned by citizens working abroad in addition to the GDP
Term
standard of living
Definition
a measure of peoples ability to live a healthy and productive life in accordance with acceptable social norms. often approximated by per capita GDP in international comparisons.
Term
Path dependancy
Definition
the tendency for initial decisions and processes to continue influencing subsequent decisions and processes.
Term
technological innovation
Definition
an innovation that typically involves manufacturing, processing, communication or transport activities
Term
product life cycle
Definition
the evolution of a product from birth, through production to old age (see diagram txt pg 57)
Term
research and dev. R&D
Definition
systematic, learning based creative research that increases societies stock of knowledge and levels of tech. capability
Term
innovative diffusion
Definition
the dispersal of innovation over the scales of time and space.
Term
product maturity
Definition
the stage in a products life cycle when mass production tech has been developed, the product is well known, market potentials are predictable and low-cost labour is the key location condition.
Term
innovation system
Definition
the interlocking network of institutions that create and market innovations, applying scientific and technical knowledge to enhance competitive advantage.

Core is formed from corporate, gov't, and university r&d
Term
incremental innovation
Definition
organizational and technological innovation with relatively small, almost imperceptible impacts on productivity
Term
radical innovation
Definition
an organizational or technological innovation with large-scale impact on productivity throughout an industrial sector or social group. (eg, cotton gin)
Term
general purpose technologies
Definition
major innovations (eg, steam engine) that have a transformative effect on economic life
Term
techno-economic paradigm (TEP)
Definition
strategic long term shifts or waves in the economy driven by paradigmatic innovations
Term
Kondratieff cycles
Definition
Term
key factor industry
Definition
Term
information and communication techno-economic paradigm
Definition
Term
fordism
Definition
Term
organizational innovation
Definition
Term
green TEP
Definition
Term
codified knowledge
Definition
Term
tacit knowledge
Definition
Term
virtuous cycle
Definition
Term
cumulative causation
Definition
Term
vicious cycle
Definition
Term
technological capability
Definition
Term
intermediate (or appropriate) technologies
Definition
Term
latecomer firm
Definition
Term
domestic champions
Definition
Term
multinational corporations (MNC's)
Definition
Term
small and medium enterprises (SME's)
Definition
Term
large firms (LF's)
Definition
Term
business (capitalist) firms
Definition
Term
neoclassical theory of the firm
Definition
Term
optimal decisions
Definition
Term
behavioural theory of the firm
Definition
Term
satisficers
Definition
practical decision makers who choose what is feasible rather than optimal
Term
franchise
Definition
a business run by an entrepreneur but controlled according to the rules and conventions established by a core firm.
Term
institutional theory
Definition
a theory that focuses on firms as organizations with particular structures and strategies. eg, large firms are run by technostructures that have the ability to influence other organizations
Term
technostructure
Definition
the top level management and supporting staff that control large firms and MNC's - a concept associated with institutional theories.
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