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economists assume that people are rational in the sense that
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they use all available information as they take actions intended to achieve their goals
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scarcity is central to the study of economics because it implies that
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every choice involves oppertunity costs
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economists use the word marginal to mean extra of additional benefit or cost. an optimal decision occurs when
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marginal benefit equals marginal cost
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The three economic questions that every society must answer are
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What goods will be produced, how will they be produced, and who will receive the goods?
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Centrally planned economies allocate resources based on decisions by_______________, while market economies answer these questions through decisions made by______________
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government ; households and firms
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Productive efficiency means that
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a good or service is produced at the lowest possible cost
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Allocative efficiency means that
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every good or service is produced up to the point where marginal benefit is equal to marginal cost.
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What type of economic analysis is concerned with the way things ought to be?
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Normative Analysis
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Macroeconomics is the study of
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the economy as a whole, including topics such as inflation, unemployment, and economic growth
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Microeconomics is the study of
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how households and firms make choices, how they interact in markets, and how the government attempts to influence their choices.
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The marcroeconomic issue
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The level of total investment by firms in new machinery and equipment helps to determine how rapidly the economy grows.
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the microeconomic issue
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However, to understand how much new machinery and equipment firms decide to purchase, one must analyze the incentives individual firms face,
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A production possibilities frontier:
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shows the maximum attainable combinations of two goods that may be produced with available resources.
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We can show economic efficiency:
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with points on the production possibilities frontier.
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We can show economic inefficiency:
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with points inside the production possibilities frontier.
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The production possibilities frontier will shift outward
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if reasources are used to produce capital goods
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what is absolute advantage
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The ability to produce more of a good or service than competitors using the same amount of resources.
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What is comparative advantage?
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The ability to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than other producers.
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Is it possible for a country to have a comparative advantage in producing a good without also having an absolute advantage? A country without an absolute advantage in producing a good
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will have a comparative advantage if it has a lower opportunity cost of producing that good.
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What is the basis for trade?
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comparative advantage
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How can a country gain from specialization and trade?
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A country can specialize in producing that for which it has a comparative advantage and then trade for other needed goods and services.
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Whether carried out by an individual or a country, production beyond the production possibilities frontier
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is not physically possible.
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With respect to consumption, individuals and countries
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can, through trade, consume beyond their production possibilities frontiers.
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The law of demand is the assertion that
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the quantity demanded of a product is inversely related to its price.
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An increase in the price of a product causes a decrease in quantity demanded because of the income and substitution effects. More specifically,
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the substitution effect is the decrease in quantity demanded because the product is more expensive relative to other goods and the income effect is the decrease in quantity demanded owing to the decline in consumers' purchasing power.
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The difference between a change in supply and a change in the quantity supplied is that the latter is
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produced by a change in the products own price while the former is caused by a variety of variables other than the products price
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What do economists mean by market equilibrium?
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A market outcome where quantity supplied is equal to quantity demanded.
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The formula for the price elasticity of demand is
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the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price.
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Why isn't elasticity just measured by the slope of the demand curve?
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the slope can change dramatically, depending on the units chosen for quantity and price
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What are the key determinants of the price elasticity of demand for a product?
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availability of close substitutes, passage of time, necessities versus luxuries, definition of the market, and share of the good in the consumer's budget.
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Which determinant is the most important?
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the availability of close substitutes
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The cross-price elasticity of demand is
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the percentage change in quantity demanded of one good divided by the percentage change in the price of another good.
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If the cross-price elasticity of demand is negative, then the products are:
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complements, but if it is positive, then the products are substitutes.
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For a normal good, the income elasticity of demand will be
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positive, but for an inferior good, the income elasticity of demand will be negative.
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Is it possible to tell from the income elasticity of demand whether a product is a luxury good or a necessity?
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Yes. If the income elasticity of demand is greater than 1, then the good is a luxury. If the income elasticity of demand is positive but less than 1, then the good is a necessity.
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The formula for the price elasticity of supply is
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the percentage change in quantity supplied divided by the percentage change in price.
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Consumer surplus is
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the difference between the highest price a consumer is willing to pay and the price the consumer actually pays.
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As the price of a good rises, consumer surplus______, and as the price of a good falls, consumer surplus
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decreases; increases
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Deadweight loss is
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the reduction in economic surplus resulting from a market not being in competitive equilibrium.
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Economic surplus is maximized when
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the marginal benefit of consumption is equal to the marginal costs of production.
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What is an externality?
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A benefit or cost that affects someone who is not directly involved in the production or consumption of a good or service.
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Which of the following is an example of a good or service having the effects of a positive externality?
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medical research; education
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Which of the following is an example of a good or service having the effects of a negative externality?
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Cigarette smoking.
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The private cost of producing a good will differ from the social cost
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when there is an externality, such as acid rain generated by the production of electricity.
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When will the private benefit from consuming a good differ from the social benefit?
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when there is an externality, such as second-hand smoke generated by the consumption of cigarettes; when there is an externality, such as fewer diseases generated by the consumption of vaccines
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A Pigovian tax is
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a tax to bring about an efficient level of output in the presence of externalities.
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At what level must a Pigovian tax be set to achieve efficiency? A Pigovian tax must be set equal to
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the cost of the externality.
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Rivalry is the situation that occurs when
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one person's consuming a unit of a good means no one else can consume it.
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Excludability is the situation that occurs when
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anyone who does not pay for a good cannot consume it.
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Private good is
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rival and excludable
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A public good is
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nonrivalrous and nonexcludable
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quasi-public good is
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nonrivalroud and excludable
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A common resource is
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rival and nonexcludable
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What is free riding?
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Free riding is benefiting from a good without paying for it.
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How is free riding related to the tendency of a public good to create market failure? Free riding results in
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the market producing a quantity of public goods that is inefficiently low because they are nonexcludable.
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Tax incidence indicates
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the actual division of the burden of a tax.
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Do the people who are legally required to pay a tax always bear the burden of the tax? Briefly explain.
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No. Whoever bears the burden of the tax is not affected by who legally is required to pay the tax to the government.
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Utility is
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the enjoyment or satisfaction people receive from consuming goods and services.
NOT MEASURABLE
NOT MEASURABLE
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What is the definition of marginal utility?
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The change in utility from consuming an additional unit of a good or service.
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The law of diminishing marginal utility suggests that
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consumers experience diminishing additional satisfaction as they consume more of a good or service.
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Marginal utility is more useful than total utility in consumer decision making because
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optimal decisions are made at the margin.
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A budget constraint:
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indicates the limited amount of income available to consumers to spend on goods and services.
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The rule of equal marginal utility per dollar spent suggests that consumers maximize utility by
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equalizing the marginal utility per dollar spent across goods and services.
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A market demand curve is derived by
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adding horizontally the individual demand curves.
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What is the difference between the short run and the long run?
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In the short run, at least one of a firm's inputs is fixed, while in the long run, a firm is able to vary all its inputs and adopt new technology.
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Is the amount of time that separates the short run from the long run the same for every firm?
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NO
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Any cost that changes as output changes represents a firm's
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variable cost.
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Which of the following is most likely to be a fixed cost for a farmer?
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insurance premiums on property
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Which of the following is most likely to a variable cost for a business firm?
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cost of shipping products
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An implicit cost is
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a nonmonetary opportunity cost.
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How are implicit costs different from explicit costs?
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An explicit cost is a cost that involves spending money, while an implicit cost is a nonmonetary cost.
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The law of diminishing returns states that
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adding more of a variable input to the same amount of a fixed input will eventually cause the marginal product of the variable input to decline.
does not apply in the long run
does not apply in the long run
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What is the difference between the average cost of production (ATC) and marginal cost of production (MC)?
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ATC=TC/Q ; MC=change in TC/ change in Q
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The marginal cost curve intersects the average variable cost curve at the level of output where average variable cost is at a minimum because
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when the marginal cost of the last unit produced is below the average, it pulls the average down, and when the marginal cost is above the averge, it pulls the average up.
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For a market to be perfectly competitive, there must be
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many buyers and sellers, with all firms selling identical products, and no barriers to new firms entering the market.
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A price taker is
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a firm that is unable to affect the market price.
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A firm is likely to be a price taker when
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it sells a product that is exactly the same as every other firm
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Why do single firms in perfectly competitive markets face horizontal demand curves?
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With many firms selling an identical product, single firms have no effect on market price.
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In the short run, a firm's shutdown point is the minimum point on the
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average variable cost curve, while in the long run, a firm's exit point is the minimum point on the average total cost curve.
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Why are firms willing to accept losses in the short run but not in the long run?
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there are sunk costs in the short run but not in the long run.
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In the short run, a firm's shutdown point is the minimum point on the
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average variable cost curve, while in the long run, a firms exit point is the minimum point on the average cost curve
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Why are firms willing to accept losses in the short run but not in the long run?
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There are fixed costs in the short run but not in the long run
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When are firms likely to enter an industry? When are they likely to exit?
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Economic profits attract firms to enter an industry, and economic losses cause firms to exit an industry.
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Unlike in perfectly competitive markets, in monopolistically competitive markets,
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firms face downward-sloping demand curves, and the products competitors sell are differentiated.
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Give two examples of products sold in perfectly competitive markets and two examples of products sold in monopolistically competitive markets.
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apples and oranges are sold in perfectly competitive markets and Starbucks coffee and gap clothing are sold in monopolistically competitive markets
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A monopoly is
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a firm that is the only seller of a good or service that does not have a close substitute.
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The four main reasons a firm becomes a monopoly are:
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the government blocks entry, control of a key resource, network externalities, and economies of scale.
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A natural monopoly
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develops automatically due to economies of scale.
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Network externalities
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serve as barriers to entry because new products are less useful.
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An oligopoly is a market structure
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where a small number of interdependent firms compete.
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Three examples of oligopolies in the United States are industries that produce or sell
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computers , athletic footware, and cigarettes.
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Without barriers to entry,
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new firms will enter industries where firms are earning economic profits.
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The most important barriers to entry are
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economies of scale, ownership of a key input, and government imposed barriers.
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Game theory
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The study of how people make decisions where attaining goals depends on interactions with others.
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Cooperative equilibrium
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A game outcome in which players seek to increase their mutual payoff.
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Noncooperative equilibrium
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A game outcome in which players pursue their own self-interest.
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Dominant strategy
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A strategy that is the best for a firm, no matter what strategies other firms use.
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Nash equilibrium
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A situation in which each firm chooses the best strategy, given the strategies chosen by other firms
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Price Leadership
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A situation where one firm announces a price change, which is matched by other firms in the industry.
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Price discrimination is when
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firms charge a higher price to consumers whose demand is less elastic and a lower price to consumers whose demand is more elastic; firms change a higher price for a product when it is first introduced and a lowed later; firms charge consumer a different price equal to that consumers willingness to pay
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Price discrimination is when
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some consumers must have greater willingness to pay for the product than others and a firm must know consumer willingness to pay for the product.
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Perfect price discrimination is
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unlikely to occur because firms typically do not know how much each consumer is willing to pay.
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Perfect price discrimination is economically efficient
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efficient because it converts into producer surplus what had been consumer surplus and deadweight loss.
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Is it possible to price discriminate across time? Briefly explain.
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Yes. Firms can charge higher prices at times when consumer demand is less elastic and lower prices at times when consumer demand is more elastic
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The public choice model
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applies economic analysis to government decision making.
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A marginal tax rate is
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the fraction of each additional dollar of income that must be paid in taxes, while the average tax rate is the total tax paid divided by total income.
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Which is more important in determining the impact of the tax system on economic behavior?
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marginal tax rate
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According to the goal of economic efficiency, governments tend to favor taxes that
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create a small excess burden relative to revenue raised.
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In addition, governments favor taxes that treat people in the same economic situation equally treat people in the same economic situation equally, according to the
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horizontal-equity
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governments favor taxes that place a greater share of the tax burden on those who have a greater ability to pay , according to the
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ability-to-pay
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the benefits - received principle, governments favor taxes that
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place greater share of the tax burden on those who receive greater benefits
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Principal-agent problem
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Results from agents pursuing their own interests rather than the interests of the principals who hired them.
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Adverse selection
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Is the situation in which one party to a transaction takes advantage of knowing more than the other party to the transaction.
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Asymmetric information
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Occurs when one party to an economic transaction has less information than the other party.
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Moral hazard
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Refers to actions people take after they have entered into a transaction that make the other party to the transaction worse off.
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The "lemons problem" refers to the observation that the presence of asymmetric information in the used car market leads to the problem of______________, causing the cars offered for sale to be predominantly_________, quality
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adverse selection; poor
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in the case of health insurance, a lemons problem exists since those more likely to want health insurance are
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sick people
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Which of the following examples most accurately describes adverse selection and moral hazard in marriage?
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Adverse selection because the husband's secret alcoholism comes out after the wedding. Moral hazard because a spouse lets their appearance go after marriage.