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Explicit Cost
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Cost that involves actually laying out money
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Implicit Cost
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Does not require an outlay of money ; Measured by the value, in dollar terms of benefits that are forgone
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Accounting Profit
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A business is the business' total revenue minus the explicit cost and depreciation
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Economic Profit
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The business' total revenue minus the opportunity cost of its resources ; Usually less than the accounting profit
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Implicit Cost of Capital
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The opportunity cost of the capital used by a business ; the income the owner could have realized from that capital if it had been used in its next best alternative way
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Normal Profit
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An economic profit equal to zero
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Principle of Marginal Analysis
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Every activity should continue until marginal benefit equals marginal cost
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Marginal Revenue
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The change in total revenue generated by an additional unit of output
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Optimal Output Rule
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Profit is maximized by producing the quantity of output at which the marginal revenue of the last unit produced is equal to its marginal cost
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Marginal Cost Curve
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Shows how the cost of producing one more unit depends on the quantity that has already been produced
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Marginal Revenue Curve
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Shows how marginal revenue varies as output varies
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Production Function
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The relationship between the quantity of inputs a firm uses and the quantity of output it produces
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Fixed Input
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An input whose quantity is fixed for a period of time and 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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Long Run
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The time period in which all inputs can be varied
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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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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 additional quantity of output produced by using one more unit of that input
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Diminishing Returns to an Input
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When an increase in the quantity of that input, holding the levels of all other inputs fixed, leads to a decline in the marginal product of that input
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Fixed Cost
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A cost that does not depend on the quantity of output produced ; cost of the fixed input
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Variable Cost
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Cost that depends on the quantity of output produced ; the cost of the variable input
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Total Cost
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This of producing a given quantity of output is the sum of the fixed cost and the variable cost of producing that quantity of output
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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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Average Total Cost
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Similar to average total cost, but gives a broader view
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Average Cost
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Total cost divided by quantity of output produced
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U-Shaped Average Total Cost Curve
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Falls at low levels of output and then rises at higher levels
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Average Fixed Cost
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The fixed cost per unit of output
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Average Variable Cost
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The variable cost per unit of output
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Minimum-Cost Output
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The quantity of output at which average total cost is lowest ; corresponds to the bottom of the U-shaped average total cost curve
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Long-Run Average Total Cost Curve
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Shows the relationship between output and average total cost when fixed cost has been chosen to minimize average total cost for each level of output
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Economies of Scale
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When long-run average total cost declines as output increases
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Increasing Returns to Scale
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When output increases more than in proportion to an increase in all inputs ; ex: with increasing returns to scale, doubling all inputs would cause output to more than double
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Diseconomies of Scale
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When long-run average total cost increases as output increases
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Decreasing Returns to Scale
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When output increases less than in proportion to an increase in all inputs
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Constant Returns to Scale
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When output increases directly in proportion to an increase in all inputs
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Sunk Cost
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A cost that has already been incurred and is nonrecoverable ; should be ignored in a decision about future actions
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Price-Taking Firm
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A firm whose actions have no effect on the market price of the good or service it sells
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Price-Taking Consumer
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A consumer whose actions have no effect on the market price of the good or service he or she buys
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Perfectly Competitive Market
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A market in which all market participants are price-takers
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Perfectly Competitive Industry
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An industry in which firms are price-takers
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Market Share
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The fraction of the total industry output accounted for by that firm's output
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Standardized Product
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A product that consumers consider identical in all essential features to other products in the same market
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Commodity
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A product that is the same no matter who produces it, such as petroleum, notebook paper, or milk
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Free Entry and Exit
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When new firms can easily enter into the industry and existing firms can easily leave the industry
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Monopolist
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The only producer of a good that has no close substitutes
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Monopoly
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An industry controlled by a monopolist
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Barrier to Entry
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Something that prevents other firms from entering the industry ; a monopolist must be protected by this to earn economic profits
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Natural Monopoly
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Exists when economies of scale provide a large cost advantage to a single firm that produces all of an industry's output
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Patent
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Gives an inventor a temporary monopoly in the use or sale of an invention
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Copyright
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Gives the creator of a literary or artistic work the sole right to profit from that work
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Oligopoly
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An industry with only a small number of firms
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Oligopolist
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A producer in an oligopoly industry
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Imperfect Competition
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When no one firm has a monopoly, but producers nontheless realize that they can affect market prices
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Concentration Ratios
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Measure the percentage of industry sales accounted for by the "X" largest firms ; ex.: the four-firm concentration ratio or the eight-firm concentration ratio
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Herfindahl-Hirschman Index
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The square of each firm's share of market sales summed over the industry ; gives a picture of the industry market structure
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Monopolistic Competition
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A market structure in which there are many competing firms in an industry, each firm sells a differentiated product, and there is free entry into and exit from the industry in the long run