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Utility is a measure of
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satisfaction
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Which of the following statements is true about utility?
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inputs into a utility function may include socks, haircuts, and asparagus
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an inferior good
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has a negative income elasticity of demand
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an indifference curve is
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a collection of market baskets that are equally desirable to the consumer
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an underlying assumption in development of indifference curves is that consumers
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can rank alternative consumption bundles
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a consumer's budget constraint shows
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how consumers must trade off two goods given prices and income
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all points on or below a budget constraint
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are attainable with the given income
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the additional utility obtained from consuming an extra unit of a good is called
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marginal utility
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Frank buys less hamburger meat as his income increases. This implies that, for Frank, hamburger meat is......
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an inferior good
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for the typical person left and right shoes are
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perfect complements
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the marginal rate of substitution is
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the rate at which consumers substitute one good for another while maintaining the same level of utility
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a normal good can be defined as one which consumers purchase more of as
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income rises
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if consumption of good B decreases as the price of good A falls
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goods A and B must be substitutes
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the income effect of a price change
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may be positive or negative
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which explains the substitution effect of a price change
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consumers will consume less of a good whose relative price has risen and more of the good whose relative price has fallen
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a basic assumption of the long run is that a firm
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can adjust the amount of both labor and capital
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the total output of a firm divided by the total amount of variable input used is defined as
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average product of the input
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input combinations outside a given isocost line are
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more expensive than those on the line
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if marginal product of a variable input is less than the average product of the inputs
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average product is decreasing
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a firm's production function shows the relationship between
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inputs and output
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which situation will likely give rise to diminishing marginal product of labor
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Betty's Grits, which has enough cooking space for three cooks per shift, decides to hire a fourth cook per shift
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which of the following is NOT true about isoquants
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diminishing marginal product implies that isoquants are negatively shaped
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suppose a community health center finds that it is able to replace one family practice physician with two nurse practitioners without affecting the quantity or quality of patient office visits, regardless of the initial overall level of employment of health care providers. This implies that
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physicians and nurse practitioners are perfect substitutes in production
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the slope of isocost lines are the same for the entire isocost line because
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firms can hire more or less of each input without changing wages or rental rates
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if labor is graphed on the x-axis and capital on the y-axis, the isocost line will rotate outward on the x-axis (with the same y-intercept) if
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wages decrease
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an isoquant shows combinations of inputs that
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enable a producer to produce the same level of output
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a basic assumption of the isocost/isoquant model is that the firm
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can buy as much labor and capital as it desires at fixed prices
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increasing returns to scale implies
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as use of all inputs increases by a certain amount, output expands proportionately more
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the idea of cost minimization refers to
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the goal of firms once the quantity of output is chosen
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a firm's expansion path shows how
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its input choices change with output
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economic profit is equal to
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total revenue minus total cost, including opportunity cost, of producing goods and services
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fixed costs
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are the difference between a firm's total cost and its total variable cost
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a variable cost is a cost that
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changes in relation to the level of the firm's output
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a parallel shift down of the total cost curve (indicating lower TC for each level of output with a lower y-intercept) could be caused by
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a decrease in the firm's fixed costs of production
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a perfectly competitive firm's marginal cost is
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the change in total cost as output changes
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a firm should ___________ output wherever MR>MC because
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increase; revenues will rise by more than costs thus increase the firm's profit
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fertilizer is a key input in the production of corn. If the price of fertilizer rises, corn producers will experience a(n) __________ shift of their marginal cost curve and a(n)____________ shift of their average variable cost
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upward;upward
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the demand faced by a perfectly competitive firm is
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perfectly elastic at market price
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a perfectly competitive industry is
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one in which consumers cannot distinguish one firm's product from another's
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in a short run equilibrium
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the number of firms is fixed
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what happens to the long-run equilibrium price in a perfectly competitive industry when there is an increase in product demand?
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LR price will rise to reflect higher long run ATC if it is an increasing cost industry
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the perfectly competitive firm's short run supply curve is the portion of its
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marginal cost curve that lies above average variable cost
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the shutdown point is
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where price equals minimum average variable cost
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suppose the market for lettuce is in long run equilibrium. In the short run, what will happen if there is an E. coli outbreak that causes a decrease in the demand for lettuce
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market price of lettuce will fall and each firm will sell less lettuce
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diseconomies of scale occurs when ATC _________ as output __________
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rises;rises
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Other things equal, the demand for a good tends to be more elastic when:
A. a shorter period of time is considered
B. The overall market demand is smaller
C. There are more available substitutes
D. Good is in large supply
A. a shorter period of time is considered
B. The overall market demand is smaller
C. There are more available substitutes
D. Good is in large supply
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C. There are more available substitutes
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The more elastic the demand for a good is, the______ is the deadweight loss of a tax and the ______ is the revenue collected by the government:
A. Larger, Larger
B. Larger, Smaller
C. Smaller, Larger
D. Smaller, Smaller
A. Larger, Larger
B. Larger, Smaller
C. Smaller, Larger
D. Smaller, Smaller
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B. Larger, Smaller
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A decrease in demand will _____ consumer surplus and ______ producer surplus:
A. increase, increase
B. increase, decrease
C. decrease, increase
D. decrease, decrease
A. increase, increase
B. increase, decrease
C. decrease, increase
D. decrease, decrease
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D. Decrease, decrease
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Justin purchased a new pair of soccer shoes for $125 and received a consumer surplus of $95. What was Justin's Willing to pay for the train set?
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$220
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All else constant, producer surplus will increase when:
A. taxes are imposed on goods with an elastic demand
B. taxes are imposed on goods with an inelastic demand
C. taxes are reduced
D. when consumer surplus decreases
A. taxes are imposed on goods with an elastic demand
B. taxes are imposed on goods with an inelastic demand
C. taxes are reduced
D. when consumer surplus decreases
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C. taxes are reduced
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Suppose we observe an increase in the price of sunscreen and more people buying sunscreen. What could have caused this change?
A. A violation in the law of demand
B. Tax on sunscreen manufacturers
C. A new study linking sunscreen usage to a decreased risk of a dangerous form of skin cancer
D.A new production process that reduces that cost of making sunscreen
A. A violation in the law of demand
B. Tax on sunscreen manufacturers
C. A new study linking sunscreen usage to a decreased risk of a dangerous form of skin cancer
D.A new production process that reduces that cost of making sunscreen
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C. A new study linking sunscreen usage to a decreased risk of a dangerous form of skin cancer
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A quota set below the market equilibrium quantity will:
A. Cause consumer surplus to increase
B. Cause consumer surplus to decrease
C. Cause producer surplus to increase
D. Cause producer surplus to decrease
A. Cause consumer surplus to increase
B. Cause consumer surplus to decrease
C. Cause producer surplus to increase
D. Cause producer surplus to decrease
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B. Cause consumer surplus to decrease
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If, for given demand, a decrease in the price of potato chips causes a decrease in the total revenue of potato chip manufacturers, the price elasticity of demand for potato chips is:
A. Positive and elastic
B. Inelastic
C. Elastic
D. Positive and inelastic
A. Positive and elastic
B. Inelastic
C. Elastic
D. Positive and inelastic
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B. Inelastic
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If goods X and Y have a cross price elasticity of demand of 0.45, the two goods:
A. Both normal goods
B. Both inelastic
C. Complements
D. Substitutes
A. Both normal goods
B. Both inelastic
C. Complements
D. Substitutes
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D. Substitutes
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All else being constant, as a consumer's income increases:
A. The slope of the budget constraint will decrease
B. The slope of the indifference curve will decrease
C. The budget constraint will shift outward
D. The consumer's feasible set will decrease
A. The slope of the budget constraint will decrease
B. The slope of the indifference curve will decrease
C. The budget constraint will shift outward
D. The consumer's feasible set will decrease
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C. The budget constraint will shift outward
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The marginal rate of substitution is
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The rate at which consumers substitute one good for another while maintaining utility
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If a consumer's marginal rate of substitution of X for Y is 5 and the price is $18 per unit and the price of Y is $3 per unit, this consumer:
A. is maximizing utility
B. could increase utility by consuming more of Y and less X
C. could increase utility by consuming more of X and less Y
D. Could increase utility by increasing price of Y
A. is maximizing utility
B. could increase utility by consuming more of Y and less X
C. could increase utility by consuming more of X and less Y
D. Could increase utility by increasing price of Y
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B. B. could increase utility by consuming more of Y and less X
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Market Power refers to a firm's ability to:
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Influence the price of its product
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A market structure in which there are many firms selling differentiated products is called:
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Monopolistic Competition
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True or False:
Monopolies always earn positive profit
Monopolies always earn positive profit
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False
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As firms enter a monopolistically competitive industry, the existing firms' demand curves will
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Shift downward and become more elastic
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which of the following is a barrier to entry into a market
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patents
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what kind of demand curve does a firm with the ability to affect the price of its product face
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faces a downward sloping demand curve
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market power can arise from
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barriers to entry
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True or False:
if marginal revenue exceeds marginal cost, the firm should expand output to increase profits
if marginal revenue exceeds marginal cost, the firm should expand output to increase profits
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True
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natural monopolies can arise from
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from economies of scale that exist for all levels of output
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price discrimination is the practice of charging
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different prices to different customers for the same product
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which of the following is necessary to practice price discrimination
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the firm must have market power
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if firms in a monopolistically competitive industry are making profits in the short run
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new firms will enter the market
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in monopolistic competition firms produce where marginal revenue...
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equals marginal cost
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collusion occurs when
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firm's agree to avoid certain competitive tactics, particularly price reduction
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rent seeking refers to
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the actions that firms undertake in their attempt to receive monopoly privilege from the government