Mid term2(chapter 5-10) Flashcards
What are the resource allocation mehtods
Market, Command, First come, lottery, competition, force, personal characteristics, majority rule, contest
how does market price work
whoever can afford to pay the market price gets the scarce resource. for the most part this is the best method
how does the command system work
someone in authority decides how resources are allocated. works well in orgs with clear lines of command but bad in an entire economy
how does majority rule work
majority voters choose how to allocate resources. works best when decision affects a lot of people and personal interest just be surpressed
how does contest work
allocates reproduces to a winner or group of winners. works best when efforts of parties are hard to monitor and reward directly
how does first come first served work
allocates resources to the first in line. works best when resource can serve just one person at a time in sequence
how does lottery work
allocates resources to a random winner of some sort. work best when there is no way to distinguish between potential users of a resource
how does personal characteristics work
allocate resources to the person with the ‘‘right characteristics”.
how does force work
people forcefully take and allocate resources from one another
what is value and price
value is what we get and price is what we pay
how are marginal benefit and demand related
value of one more good is the marginal benefit of that good, we measure value by the maximum someone is willing to pay to obtain the good, demand is also willingness to pay so demand curve is MB curve
what is individual demand vs market demand
individual demand is how much of a good a single person demands at a given price and market demand is the horizontal sum of all individual demands in a market at a given price
what is consumer surplus
the excess of the benefit received from a good over the price paid for it
how is consumer surplus calculated
the marginal benefit(value) of a good minus its price summed over the quantity bought. this is the area under the demand/MB curve but over the price
what is cost and price
cost is what the producer gives up and price is what the producer receives
how are marginal cost and supply related
cost of producing one more unit of a good is the marginal cost, MC is the minimum price a firm is willing to accept for a good, supply is also minimum supply-price, supply curve is MC curve
what is individual and market supply
individual supply is the quantity a single firm produces at a given market price and market supply is the horizontal sum of all firms quantities produced at a given price
what is producer surplus
the excess of the amount received over the cost of producing
how is producer surplus calculated
price received for a good minus cost of a good summed over the quantity produced. is is the area under the price but above the supply/MC curve
why is competitive equilibrium efficient
competitive equilibrium is where demand is equal to supply which is also where MC is equal to MB meaning total surplus is maximized and allocative efficiency is achieved
what is market failure
when markets are inefficient and either under or over produce
what happens in under production
marginal benefit exceeds marginal cost and a deadweight loss is created shrinking total surplus
what happens in over production
marginal cost exceeds marginal benefit and a deadweight loss is created shrinking total surplus
what are the sources of market failure
taxes and subsidies, price and quantity regulations, externalities, public goods and common resources, monopoly, high transaction costs
how do taxes and subsidies lead to ineficiency
taxes decrease price received and increase price paid leading to underproduction, subsidies decrease price paid and increase price received leading to overproductsion
how do externalities lead to ineficiency
external costs lead to overproduction and external benefits lead to underproduction
how do public goods and common resources lead to ineficiency
it is in everybody’s interest to not pay for public goods(free-rider problem) leading to underproduction. it is in everybody’s interest to use common resources leading to overproduction
How do monopolies lead to ineficiency
It is in the controlling firms best interest to increase scarcity leading to underproduction
how do high transaction costs lead to ineficiency
transaction costs lead to underproduction
how is fairness determined
fair results mean that everybody ends up with equal resources(utilitarianism). fair rules means that people in similar situations are treated similarly
what are the two rules that are argued to create fairness
there must be enforced laws that establish and protect private property. private property must be transferred from one to another by only voluntary exchange
what is a price ceiling/cap
a regulation making it illegal to charge more than a certain price for a good or service
what do price ceilings create
illicit markets, increased search activity, shortages
how do price ceilings create ineficiency
price ceilings below the equilibrium make MB exceed MC creating a deadweight loss and an area of potential loss from increased search activity