micro 208 - mid-term Flashcards
Economics
= the study of the use of scarce resources to satisfy “unlimited” human wants (goods and services)
Resources / factors of production
land, labour, capital
Opportunity cost
= the value of the next best alternative that is forgone when one alternative is chosen
Diff types of economies
market, planned, traditional, command, free-market, mixed
planned economy
Economic activities are conducted according to plans by the gov
Market economy
- Private ownership of resources is predominant
- Economic decisions are made in a decentralized manner
- Prices and quantities are determined by supply and demand on the markets.
Marginal decisions
producer weighs marginal cost of a worker (extra labor that must be paid) against marginal benefit of worker (increase in sale revenues)
positive statements
- are statements about matters of fact.
- A positive statement is about what actually is, was, or will be.
Ex: if this, then that
normative statements
depend on value judgements and cannot be evaluated solely by a recourse to facts.
cross-sectional data
observations of many different individuals (subjects, objects) at a given time, each observation belonging to a different individual
Time-series data
evolves over time
Panel data
longitudinal data where observations are for the same subjects each time
variables are positively related
When two variables move in the same direction
variables are negatively related
When two variables move in opposite directions
variables are linearly related to each other
If the graphs of these relationships are straight lines
Quantity Demanded vs demand
Demand is the relationship between desired purchases and all the possible prices of the product
= not just the particular quantity demanded at a moment
Quantity demanded refers to a flow of purchases expressed in a period of time → ex: 20 units per day
quantity demanded
the total amount of any particular good or service that consumers want to purchase during some time period
stock
a quantity that is measured at a specific point in time or over a specific period
Flow
a quantity that is measured over a period of time
Increase in demand
curve shifts right
Decrease in demand
curve shifts left
Normal goods
goods for which the quantity demanded increases when average income rises
Inferior goods
goods for which quantity demanded falls when income rises → ex: fewer rides on public transit as income rises
Substitues in consumption
goods that can be used in place of another good to satisfy similar needs or desire
Complements in consumption
goods that tend to be consumed together
Movements along the demand curve
changes in the quantity demanded of a good or service in response to changes in its price while keeping all other factors constant