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Production Function
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Way firm combineds inputs to make outputs
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Variable Inputs
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Can be changed in the Short Run
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Fixed Inputs
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Cannot be changed in the Short Run
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Short Run
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Period of time that is too short for a firm to change plant capacity
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Plant Capacity
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Firm's maximum potential level of production
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Total Product
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Total quantity of output made by a certain number of inputs
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Marginal Product
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Additional output made by 1 more input
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Marginal Product Equation
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MP = Change in Total Product/Change in Units of Labor
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Average Product
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Average output made by 1 more input
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Average Product Equation
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AP = Total Product/Units of Labor
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Fixed Costs
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Costs that have to be paid even when the output is equal to 0
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Variable Costs
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Costs that change as output changes
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Marginal Costs Equation
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MC = Change in Total Costs/Change in Quantity
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Average Fixed Costs Equation
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AFC = Fixed Costs/Quantity
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Average Variable Costs
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AVC = Variable Costs/Quantity
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Average Total Costs
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ATC = Total Costs/Quantity
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Average Total Costs Alternate Formula
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ATC = AVC + AFC
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What do AVC and ATC do as quantity increases?
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AVC and ATC get closer together, but never touch
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Where does the Marginal Cost curve cross the ATC and AVC
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At the minimums of those curves
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Increasing Returns to Scale
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Output increases at a faster rate than all inputs
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Decreasing Returns to Scale
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Output increases at a slower rate than all inputs
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Constant Returns to Scale
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Output increases at the same rate of all inputs
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Economies of Scale
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Long Run Average Total Curve decreases as output increases
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Diseconomies of Scale
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Long Run Average Total Curve increases as output increases
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Minimum Efficient Scale
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Helps determine the number of firms in a market
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Explicit Costs
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The price on materials, utilities, labor, rent, and capital
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Implicit Costs
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The price value of one's opportunity cost
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Accounting Profit Equation
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Total Revenue - Explicit Costs
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Economic Profit Equation
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Total Revenue - (Explicit Costs + Implicit Costs)
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Which of the following provides an example of the law of diminishing returns?
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As more of a variable input-for example, labor is used with a fixed number of machines-output increases but at a diminishing rate.
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Assume the marginal product of labor first rises, reaches a maximum, and then falls. If the average product of labor is falling, which of the following is true?
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The marginal product of labor must be falling.
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In the short run, assume diminishing marginal product of labor sets in with the hiring of the second worker. Which of the following will remain constant as a firm produces more output?
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Total fixed cost
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Assume that the short-run marginal cost curve initially falls, and it then rises as quantity of output increases. Which of the following must be true?
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Initially the marginal product of labor increases but eventually marginal product of labor decreases.
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Which of the following statements about short-run costs is true?
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Total fixed cost plus total variable cost equals total cost.
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Assume a firm doubles its usage of each input, resulting in a doubling of the firm's output. Which of the following describes this result?
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Constant returns to scale.
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Which of the following explains the difference between short-run and long-run costs?
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All costs are variable in the long run but not in the short run.
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Which of the following statements regarding accounting profits, opportunity costs, and economic profits is true?
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If accounting profits are less than opportunity costs, there will be economic losses.
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Assume Nadia voluntarily leaves a job with a salary of $100 per day to open and run a restaurant instead. After deducting all explicit costs from the restaurant revenues, Nadia has a gain of $120. Assuming there are no additional implicit costs, which of the following statements is true?
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Nadia has an economic profit of $20.
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Ryan quit a job with a daily salary and opened a business. On a daily basis, the total revenue of the business is $200, and the explicit costs of the business are $120. If Ryan has zero economic profits, what must be the value of Ryan's implicit costs?
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$80