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Firm
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an economic institution that transforms factors of production into goods and services
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Sole Proprietorship
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one owner; basic form of business organization
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Partnership
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two or more owners; subjected to unlimited liability
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Corporations
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many stockholders; most legal rights of individuals; premier form of business organization in most of the world
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Profits
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the difference between total revenue and total cost; profit = TR - TC
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Total revenue
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amount of money a firm receives from the sales of its products; TR = price x quantity
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Total cost
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includes both out-of-pocket expenses and opportunity cost
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Economic costs
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sum of explicit and implicit costs
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Explicit costs
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expenses paid directly to another economic entity, including wages, lease payments, taxes, and utilities
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Implicit costs
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the opportunity costs of using resources that belong to the firm, including depreciation, depletion of business assets, and the opportunity cost of the firm's capital employed in the business.
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Accounting profit
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calculated by including only explicit costs
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Economic profit
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calculated using both explicit and implicit costs
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Normal profit
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equal to zero economic profits; P = ATC; it is the return on capital necessary to keep investors satisfied and keep capital in business over the long run
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Short Run
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A period of time over which at least one factor of production (resource) is fixed, or cannot be changed.
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Suppose a car manufacturer discovers that the marginal cost of the last car produced was $15,000, while the marginal revenue was $14,000. In order to increase profits, the car manufacturer should __________ the quantity of cars produced
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decrease
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Suppose a Mexican restaurant maximizes profits when it sells each meal at a price of $10. For the restaurant to remain open in the short run, its average variable costs should be __________ $10
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lower or equal to
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Jared runs a personal training studio, earning $5000 last month. His fixed costs are $4000, and his variable costs are $3500. Should Jared shut down his business immediately?
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No, because $5000 covers his variable costs
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Suppose apples sell in a perfectly competitive market at $2 per pound. Dimitri has several apple trees in his yard. If Dimitri sells apples at the local farmer's market, what is his total revenue and marginal revenue when he sells the 100th pound of apples?
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Total revenue is $200, marginal revenue is $2 (P X Q = $2 x 100 = $200)
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Mara's Puzzle Factory is operating at a quantity at which marginal revenue is $20, marginal cost is $15, and average total cost is $10. What should Mara do to maximize profits?
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Increase her production of puzzles
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If Will's Print Shop competes in a perfectly competitive market and he charges 410 per printing job, what is the marginal revenue of his 3rd print job?
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$10.00 (because a firm in perfectly competitive market does not have the power to set its own price)
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Long run
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a period of time sufficient for firms to adjust all factors of production, including plant capacity
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Suppose that producers in the market for pizza around Campustown are earning economic profits. In the long run then, we can expect the price of pizza to:
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decrease
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The average total cost of manufacturing smartphones tends to decrease as more sellers enter the industry. Therefore, the long run supple curve for this industry will be:
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downward sloping
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As an industry expands, more manufacturing companies are able to increase their productivity due to specialization. This industry is likely to be a(n);
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decreasing cost industry
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In the long run, positive economic profits __________, while economic losses __________
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encourage market entry; encourage market exit
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Which of the following is true in the long run for competitive industries?
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average total cost equals price
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The appearance of the iPad market a new era in the highly competitive industry of tablets. As other sellers, such as Amazon and Samsung, realized the success of this product, they introduced their own tablets. All else equals, what should happen to the price of tablets in the next five years?
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Price will decrease
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Roy makes so much money in his private tutoring business that all of his classmates start their tutoring businesses. What is the effect of competition on the market for tutoring?
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the supply curve will shift right, and the price will wall
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Production
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process of converting resources (factors of production) - land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurial ability into goods and services
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Relationship between marginal & average product
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(1) if marginal product > average product, then average increases
(2) if marginal product < average product, then average decrease
(3) if marginal product = average, then average stays unchanged
(2) if marginal product < average product, then average decrease
(3) if marginal product = average, then average stays unchanged
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Marginal Product
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change in input that results from a change in labor
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Average Product
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output per worker is found by dividing total output by the number of workers employed to produce the output
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Increasing marginal returns
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a new worker hired adds more to total output than the previous worker hired, so that both average and marginal products are rising.
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Diminishing marginal returns
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an additional worker adds to total output, but at a diminishing rate.
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Fixed costs
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costs that do not change as a firm's output expands or contracts (FC)
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Variable costs
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costs that vary with output fluctuations, including expenses such as labor and material costs (VC)
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Sunk cost
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a cost that has been paid and cannot be recovered; therefore, it should not enter into decision making affecting the present or future
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Marginal cost
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change in total costs arising from the production of additional units of output. Because fixed costs do not change with output, marginal costs are the change in variable costs associated with additional production
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Average Fixed Cost (AFC)
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equal to total fixed cost divided by output (FC/Q)
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Average Variable Cost (AVC)
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equal to total variable cost divided by output (VC/Q)
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Average Total Cost (ATC)
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equal to total cost divided by output (TC/Q). Average total cost is also equal to AFC & AVC
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Long-run average total cost
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in the long run, firms can adjust their plant sizes so that LRATC is the lowest unit cost at which any particular output can be produced in the long run
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Economies of scale
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as a firm's output increases, its average total cost declines. This results from the specialization of labor and management, and potentially better use of capital and complementary production techniques
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Constant return to scale
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a range of output where average total costs are relatively constraint
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Diseconomies of scale
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a range of output where average total costs tend to increase
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Economies of scope
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by producing a number of products that are interdependent firms are able to produce and market these goods at lower costs