Key Words Micro Flashcards
Adverse selection
A situation in which a person at risk is more likely to take out insurance
Allocative efficiency
Achieved when consumer satisfaction is maximised
Asymmetric information
A situation in which some participants in a market have better information about market conditions than others
Average total cost(ATC)
Total cost divided by the quantity produced
Buffer stock
A scheme intended to stabilise the price of a commodity by buying excess supply in periods when supply is high, and selling when supply is low
Capitalism
A system of production in which there is a private ownership of productive resources, and individuals are free to pursue their objectives with minimal interference from government
Centrally planned economy
Decisions on resource allocation are guided by the state
Ceteris paribus
A Latin phrase meaning ‘other things being equal’; it is used in economics when we focus on changes in one variable while holding other influences constant
Comparative static analysis
Examines the effect on the equilibrium of a change in the external conditions affecting a market
Competitive demand
Demand for goods that are in competition with each other
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
Competitive supply
A situation in which a firm can use its factors of production to produce alternative products
Complements
Two goods are said to be complements if people tend to consume them jointly, so that an increase in the price of one good causes the demand for the other good to fall
Composite demand
Demand for a good that has multiple uses
Composite supply
Where a product produced by a firm serves more than one market
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
Cost efficiency
The appropriate combination of inputs of factors of production, given the relative prices of those factors
Cross elasticity of demand (XED)
A measure of the sensitivity of a quantity demanded of a good or service to a change in price of some other good or service
Demand
The quantity of a good or service that consumers are willing and able 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
Demerit goods
A good that brings less benefit to consumers than they expect, such that too much will be consumed by individuals in a free market
Derived demand
Demand for a factor of production or a good which derives not from the factor or the goods itself, but from the goods it produces
Division of labour
A process whereby the production procedure is broken down into a sequence of stages and workers are assigned to particular stages
Economic efficiency
A situation where both productive efficiency and allocative efficiency have been reached
Economic growth
An expansion in the productive capacity of the economy
Economies of scale
They occur for a firm when an increase in the scale of productions leads to production at lower long run average costs
Elasticity
The measure of the sensitivity of one variable to changes in another variable
Excess burden of a sales tax
The deadweight loss to society following the imposition of a sales tax
External cost
A cost which is associated with an individual’s (a firm or households) production or other economic activities, which is borne by a third party
Externality
A cost of benefit that is external to a market transaction, and thus not reflected in market prices
Factors of production
Resources used the 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
Fixed costs
Costs incurred by a firm that do not vary with the level of output
Free market economy
One in which resource allocation is guided by market forces without intervention by the state