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Short Run
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Period of time on which quantities of one or more production factors cannot be changed
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Long Run
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Amount of time needed to make all production inputs variable
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Average Product
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Output per unit of a particular input.
Average Product = Output/labor input
Average Product = Output/labor input
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Marginal Cost
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Additional cost from an additional unit of output
change in TC/change in quantity
change in TC/change in quantity
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Marginal Product
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Additional output produced as an input is increased by one unit.
Marginal Product = Change in output/change in labor input
Marginal Product = Change in output/change in labor input
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Law of Diminishing Return
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Principle that as the use of an input increases with other inputs fixed, the resulting additions to output will eventually decrease
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Sunk Cost
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Expenditure that has been made and cannot be recovered
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Total Cost (TC or C)
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Total economic cost of production, consisting of fixed and variable costs.
C = Variable cost + Fixed cost
C = Variable cost + Fixed cost
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Fixed Cost
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Cost that does not vary with the level of output and that can be eliminated only by shutting down
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Variable Cost
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Cost that varies as output varies
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Average Total Cost (ATC)
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Total cost per unit of output
ATC = TC/Q = AFC + AVC
ATC = TC/Q = AFC + AVC
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Average Variable Cost (AVC)
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Variable cost divided by the level of output
AVC = VC/Q
AVC = VC/Q
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Average Fixed Cost (AFC)
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Fixed cost divided by the level of output
AFC = FC/Q
AFC = FC/Q
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Economies of Scale
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Situations in which output can be doubled for less than a doubling of cost, exists in the range where long-run average cost is decreasing. Ex: firms expanding output
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Diseconomies of Scale
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Situation in which a doubling of output requires more than a doubling of cost, long-run average is increasing.
Ex: increasing firm size
Ex: increasing firm size
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Economies of Scope
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Cost advantages of producing multiple products in one firm
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Diseconomies of Scope
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Situation in which joint output of a single firm is less than could be achieved by separate firms when each produces a single product
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Examples of a Perfectly Competitive Firm
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Product homogeneity (similar to identical products), free entry and exit, many producers. A firm is perfectly competitive if it can sell any quantity it wants at the going market price. A firm is not perfectly competitive it to sell more of its product, it must lower the price
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Free Entry (or exit)
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Condition under which there are no special costs that make it difficult for a firm to enter (or exit) an industry
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Profit
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Difference between total revenue and total cost
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Long-run Competitive Equilibrium
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All firms in an industry are maximizing profit, no firm has an incentive to enter or exit, and price is such that quantity supplied equals quantity demanded
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Economic Rent
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The positive difference between the actual payment made for a factor of production (such as land, labor or capital) to its owner and the payment level expected by the owner, due to its exclusivity or scarcity.
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Constant-cost industry
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As the industry changes size, firm costs do not change. Horizontal long run supply curve
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Increasing-cost Industry
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As the industry increases in size with firm entry, input costs increase, upward sloping long run supply curve
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Decreasing Cost Industry
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As the industry increases in size with firm entry, input costs decrease, downward sloping long run supply curve
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Learning Economies
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Learning can occur: as individuals learn to perform tasks in less time; as firms learn how to make the entire organization more efficient
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What happens in a perfectly competitive firm with price changes?
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In perfect competition a firm can sell as much as it wants at the going market price. So, to sell more the firm does not need to lower its price. However, if it tries to sell its product for any amount above the going market price, it will sell nothing at all.
More substitutes means more elastic, perfect substitutes means perfectly elastic
More substitutes means more elastic, perfect substitutes means perfectly elastic
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Minimum Efficient Scale (MES)
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Minimum output per period a plant (or firm) must produce to minimize long-term average cost
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MC < ATC
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ATC is decreasing
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MC = ATC
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ATC is at its minimum
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MC > ATC
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AtC is increasing
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MC < AVC
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AVC is decreasing
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MC = AVC
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AVC is at its minimum
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MC > AVC
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AVC is increasing
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Which of the following will shift up the ATC curves and not the MC or AVC curves?
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In order for ATC to move and not MC or AVC is the change in a fixed cost or an increase in rental rates
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What does zero economic profit mean?
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0 economic profit means they're doing as well as their next best alternative
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What would it mean for negative economic profit?
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Business is not doing well and that firms would exit the industry in the long run
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What would it mean for positive economic profit?
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Expect to see firms enter in the long run
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Economic Profit Equation
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Total revenue - total costs
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Capital
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Tools, machinery, plants, equipment
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Marginal Product of Labor (MPl)
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Additional output from an extra unit of labor
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Law of Diminishing Returns
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As more of an input like labor is added (holding all else constant) eventually the MP will begin to diminish, diminishing marginal returns implies that output is increasing at a decreasing rate.
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MPL > APL
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APL is increasing
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MPL < APL
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APL decreases
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MPL = APL
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APL is at its maximum
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Opportunity or Economic Cost
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explicit costs + implicit costs
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Explicit Costs
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Direct payment like paying wages, rent, or interest on materials
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Implicit Costs
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An amount that is given up to use a resource that a firm already owns