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total revenue
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Price x Quantity
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total cost
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fixed costs plus variable costs
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profit
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total revenue minus total cost
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Fixed Cost (FC)
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the sum of the expenses of the firm that are stable and do not change with the quantity of a product that is produced and sold
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Examples of fixed costs
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-rent
-insurance on buildings
-interest payments on borrowed capital
-fire insurance
-insurance on buildings
-interest payments on borrowed capital
-fire insurance
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variable costs
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costs that vary with the quantity of output produced
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Examples of variable costs
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-salary payments
-energy, utilities
-raw materials
-insurance on merchandise and employees
-energy, utilities
-raw materials
-insurance on merchandise and employees
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explicit costs
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input costs that require an outlay of money by the firm (fixed and variable costs)
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implicit costs
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Indirect, non-purchased, or opportunity costs of resources provided by the entrepreneur
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example of explicit cost
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money wages, interest, rental payments
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example of implicit cost
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the opportunity cost of the owner's time
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economic profit
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total revenue - explicit costs - implicit costs
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accounting profit
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total revenue minus total explicit cost
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short run economics
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There are some variable inputs and at least one fixed input with a fixed plant size.
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long run economics
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the period of time in which prices have fully adjusted to any economic changes. The long run is whenever all inputs become variable, firms adjust their plant size, and they have enough time to enter/exit the market.
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marginal product
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the increase in output that arises from an additional unit of input
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diminishing marginal product
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the marginal product of an input declines as the quantity of the input increases
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total cost
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fixed costs plus variable costs
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average cost
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the total cost divided by the quantity produced
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marginal cost
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the cost of producing one more unit of a good
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describe the cost curves
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MC: U shaped
ATC: U shaped, starts higher than MC, hits minimum when intersect with MC
AVC: U shaped, shorts lower than MC, hits minimum at intersection with MC
AFC: declines downwards because it is the same cost being spread out over more units, doesn't intersect with MC
ATC: U shaped, starts higher than MC, hits minimum when intersect with MC
AVC: U shaped, shorts lower than MC, hits minimum at intersection with MC
AFC: declines downwards because it is the same cost being spread out over more units, doesn't intersect with MC
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Relate average product to average variable cost
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AVC and AP are inverses of each other; as AP reaches its maximum, AVC hits its minimum. This is because as your production increases on average, your overall variable costs are going to decrease (don't forget that variable costs are dependent upon the quantity of output produced)
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Relate marginal product to marginal cost
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Marginal cost and marginal product are inversely related to one another: as one increases, the other will automatically decrease proportionally and vice versa.
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Explain the difference between average and marginal costs.
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The average cost is the sum of the total cost of goods divided by the total number of goods whereas Marginal Cost increases in the cost of producing one more unit or additional unit of product or service.
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compute Average fixed cost
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fixed cost / quantity
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compute average variable costs
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variable costs / quantity
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compute average total costs
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average fixed cost + average variable cost
OR
total cost / quantity
OR
total cost / quantity
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compute marginal cost
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change in total cost / change in quantity
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compute average production
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total production / units of labor
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compute marginal product
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change in total product / change in labor input
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The Marginal cost curve is
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U-shaped and is the inverse of the marginal product curve
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As marginal product of labor initially increases,
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the marginal cost decrease (remember, they are inverses!)
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As marginal product decreases, marginal cost does what?
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marginal cost increases because marginal product and marginal cost are inverses of each other.
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describe the relationship and the graphs of/between marginal and average cost curves
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when the marginal cost of producing another unit is less than the average total cost, producing an extra unit decreases the ATC, and vice versa
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where does the MC curve intersect the ATC curve?
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at ATC's lowest point.
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fixed costs (short run)
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cannot be adjusted
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fixed costs in the long run
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are adjusted, thus no longer making them fixed
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Returns to scale
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The rate by which output changes if the scale of all the factors of production is changed
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minimum efficient scale
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The lowest rate of output at which a firm takes full advantage of economies of scale
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economies of scale
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the reductions in average cost achieved by producing a large volume of a product
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minimum efficient scale occurs at what output when in economies of scale?
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a very high level of output
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natural monopoly
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a market that runs most efficiently when one large firm supplies all of the output
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Examples of economies of scale
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Walmart, amazon; having a lot of storefronts, offering a wide variety of products at low prices
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diseconomies of scale
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increases in cost per unit when output increases, or when operating efficiency decreases as businesses increase their scale
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if increasing the scale of production to obtain a higher output raises the minimum of the average total cost, what occurs?
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diseconomies of scale; it is making the minimum average cost MORE EXPENSIVE!
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In diseconomies of scale, minimum efficient scale occurs at what level of output?
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a very low level of output
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if minimum efficient scale occurs at a low level of input, what does that say about the number of producers?
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There are lots of producers in a market.
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constant returns to scale
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the situation in which a firm's long-run average costs remain unchanged as it increases output
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when there is an extended range of constant returns to scale,
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relatively large AND small firms co-exist
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the long run ATC curve
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made up of all the different short run ATC curves of various plant sizes