Productive Efficiency Flashcards
Vocab
Allocative efficiency
A state of the economy in which production is in accordance with consumer preferences; in particular, every good or service is produced up to the point where the last unit provides a marginal benefit to society equal to the marginal cost of producing it
Centrally planned economy
An economy in which the government decides how economic resources will be allocated
Economic Model
A simplified version of reality used to analyze real-world economic situations
Economic Variable
Something measurable that can have different values, such as the number of people employed in manufacturing
Economics
The study of the choices people make to attain their goals, given their scarce resources
Equity
The fair distribution of economic benefits
Macroeconomics
The study of the economy as a whole, including topics such as inflation, unemployment, and economic growth
Marginal Analysis
Analysis that involves comparing marginal benefits and marginal costs
Market
A group of buyers and sellers of a good or service and the institution or arrangement by which they come together to trade
Market Economy
An economy in which the decisions of households and firms interacting in markets allocate economic resources
Microeconomics
The study of how households and firms make choices, how they interact in markets, and how the government attempts to influence their choices
Mixed economy
An economy in which most economic decisions result from the interaction of buyers and sellers in markets but in which the government plays a significant role in the allocation of resources
Normative Analysis
Analysis concerned with what ought to be
Opportunity cost
The highest-valued alternative that must be given up to engage in an activity
Positive Analysis
Analysis concerned with what is
Productive Efficiency
A situation in which a good or service is produced at the lowest possible cost
Scarcity
A situation in which unlimited wants exceed the limited resources available to fulfill those wants
Trade-off
The idea that, because of scarcity, producing more of one good or service means producing less of another good or service
Voluntary Exchange
A situation that occurs in markets when both the buyer and the seller of a product are made better off by the transaction
Absolute Advantage
The ability of an individual, a firm, or a country to produce more of a good or service than competitors, using the same amount of resources
Circular-flow diagram
A model that illustrates how participants in markets are linked
Comparative Advantage
The ability of an individual, a firm, or a country to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than competitors
Economic growth
The ability of an economy to produce increasing quantities of goods and services
Entrepreneur
Someone who operates a business, bringing together the factors of production- labor, capital, and natural resources- to produce goods and services
Factor market
A market for the factors of production, such as labor, capital, natural resources, and entrepreneurial ability
Factors of production
Labor, capital, natural resources, and other inputs used to make goods and services