Key Words Flashcards
Adverse selection
A situation in which a person at risk is more likely to take out insurance
Allocative efficiency
Achieved when society is producing an appropriate bundle of goods relative to consumer preferences
Asymmetric information
A situation in which some participants in a market have better information about market conditions than others
Cartel
An agreement between firms in a market on price and output with the intention of maximising their joint profits
Ceteris paribus
A Latin phrase meaning ‘other things being equal’; it is used when we focus on changes in one variable while holding other influences constant
Command economy
An economy in which decisions on resource allocation are guided by the state
Comparative statistic analysis
Examines the effect on equilibrium of a change in the external conditions affecting a market
Competitive market
A market in which individual firms cannot influence the price of the good or service they are selling, because of competition from other firms
Complements
Two goods are said to be complements if an increase in the price of one good causes the demand for the other good to fall
Consumer surplus
The value that consumers gain from consuming a good or service over and above the price paid
Consumption externality
An externality that affects the consumption side of a market, which may be either positive or negative
Cross-price elasticity of demand (XED)
A measure of the sensitivity of quantity demanded of a good or service to a change in the price of some other good or service
Demand
The quantity of a good or service that consumers choose to buy at any possible price in a given period
Demand curve
A graph showing how much of a good will be demanded by consumers at any given price
Diminishing marginal utility
Describes the situation where an individual gains less additional utility from consuming a product, the more of it is consumed
Division of labour
A process whereby the production procedure is broken down into a sequence of stages, and different workers are assigned to a particular stage
Elasticity
A measure of the sensitivity of one variable to changes in another variable
External cost
A cost associated with an individual’a production or other economic activities, which is borne by a third party and is not reflected in market prices
Externality
A cost or a benefit that is external to a market transaction, and is therefore not reflected in market prices
Factors of production
Resources used in the production process; inputs into production, including labour, capital, land and entrepreneurship
Firm
An organisation that brings together factors of production in order to produce output
Free-rider problem
When an individual cannot be excluded from consuming a good, and therefore has no incentive to pay for its provision
Government failure
A misallocation of resources arising from government intervention that causes a divergence between marginal social benefit and marginal social cost
Gross domestic product (GDP)
A measure of the economic activity carried out in an economy over a period
Incidence of tax
The way in which the burden of paying a sales tax is divided between buyers and sellers
Income elasticity of demand (YED)
A measure of the sensitivity of quantity demanded to a change in consumer incomes.
Indirect tax
A tax levied on expenditure on goods and services
Inferior good
One where the quantity demanded decreases in response to an increase in consumer incomes
Internalising an externality
An attempt to deal with an externality by bringing an external cost of benefit into the price system