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triple bottom line
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people, planet, profit
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cost-benefit analysis
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a study that compares the costs and benefits to society of providing a public good
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inputs
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additions to a given system
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outputs
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losses from the system
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marginal analysis
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the study of marginal decisions
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variable costs
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costs that vary with the quantity of output produced
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fixed costs
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...
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accounting costs
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explicit costs
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economic costs
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explicit costs + implicit costs
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production function
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the relationship between quantity of inputs used to make a good and the quantity of output of that good
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fixed input
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production factor that cannot be varied
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variable input
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an input whose quantity the firm can vary at any time
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short run
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the time period in which at least one input is fixed
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limiting factor
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factor that causes the growth of a population to decrease
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long run
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the time period in which all inputs can be varied
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total product curve
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shows how the quantity of output depends on the quantity of the variable input, for a given quantity of the fixed input
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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 returns
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a level of production in which the marginal product of labor decreases as the number of workers increases
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constant marginal returns
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a situation in which each successive unit of a variable input produces the same marginal product
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total cost
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fixed costs plus variable costs
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total cost curve
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shows how total cost depends on the quantity of output
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increasing marginal costs
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The principle that marginal costs eventually rise as quantity of output increases
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constant marginal costs
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the situation in which the cost of producing one additional unit of output stays the same as more output is produced
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decreasing marginal costs
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the situation in which the cost of producing one additional unit of output falls as more output is produced
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average cost
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the total cost divided by the quantity produced
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long-run average cost
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long-run total cost divided by output
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economies of scale
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factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as output rises
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constant returns to scale
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the property whereby long-run average total cost stays the same as the quantity of output changes
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diseconomies of scale
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increases in cost per unit when output increases
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minimum efficient scale
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the level of output at which all economies of scale are exhausted
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maximum efficient scale
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the highest quantity of output at which a firm achieves its minimum per-unit production costs
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input substitution
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increasing the use of some inputs, and decreasing that of others, while producing the same good or service