Ch. 6: Sellers and Incentives Flashcards
Firm
A business entity that produces and sells goods or services
Production
The process by which the transformation of inputs (such as labor and machines) to outputs (such as goods and services) occurs.
Physical Capital
Any good, including machines and buildings, used for production.
Short Run
A period of time when only some of a firm’s inputs can be varied
Fixed costs
Long Run
A period of time wherein a firm can change any input
Variable costs
Fixed Factor of Production
An input that cannot change in the short run
Variable Factor of Production
An input that can change in the short run.
Marginal product
The additional amount of output obtained from adding one more unit of input
Specialization
Workers develop specific skill sets so as to increase total productivity.
Law of Diminishing Returns
At a certain point of successive increases in inputs, marginal product begins to decrease.
Cost of production
What the firm must pay for its inputs,
Total Cost
Total cost = Variable cost + Fixed cost
Variable costs (VCs)
Those costs associated with variable factors of production.
Fixed cost (FC)
A cost associated with a fixed factor of production, such as structures or equipment, and therefore does not change with production in the short run
Average total cost (ATC)
Total cost/Total output
Average variable cost
Total variable cost/Total output
Average fixed cost (AFC)
Total fixed cost/total output
Marginal cost (MC)
Marginal cost=Change in total cost/Change in output.
Revenue
The amount of money it brings in from the sale of its outputs.
Total revenue=Price×Quantity sold.
Marginal revenue (MR)
The change in total revenue associated with producing one more unit of output.
Profits
Profits= Total revenues − Total costs
Total Profit = (Price - ATC) x total output quantity
Accounting profits
Revenues - explicit costs
Economic profits
Total revenue - both explicit and implicit costs.
Price elasticity of supply
The measure of how responsive quantity supplied is to price changes
Price elasticity of supply(εs)=Percentage change in quantity supplied/Percentage change in price.
Shutdown
A short-run decision to not produce anything during a specific time period.
Sunk costs
A special type of cost that, once they have been committed, can never be recovered
Producer surplus
= market price - MC curve
1/2 (base x height)
Economies of scale
Occur when average total cost falls as the quantity produced increases
Decreasing
Constant returns to scale
Occur when average total cost does not change as the quantity produced changes
Constant, strait horizontal line
Diseconomies of scale
Occur when ATC increases as output rises
Increasing
Exit
A long-run decision to leave the market.
Free entry
Entry is unfettered by any special legal or technical barriers
Free exit
A firm’s exit is unfettered by any special legal or technical barriers
Subsidy
A payment or tax break used as an incentive for an agent to complete an activity.
