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technology
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the processes a firm uses to turn inputs into outputs of goods and services
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technological change
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a change in the ability of a firm to produce a given level of output with a given quantity of inputs
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short run
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the period of time during which at least one of a firm's inputs is fixed
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long run
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the period of time in which a firm can vary all its inputs
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variable costs
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costs that change as output changes
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fixed costs
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costs that remain constant as output changes
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total cost
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the sum of fixed and variable costs
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explicit cost
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a cost that involves spending money
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implicit cost
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a non-monetary opportunity cost
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production function
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the relationship between the inputs employed and the maximum output from those inputs
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marginal product of labor
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the additional output a firm produces as a result of hiring one more worker
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law of diminishing returns
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the principle that, at some point, adding more of a variable input, such as labor, to the same amount of a fixed input, such as capital, will cause the marginal product of the variable input to decline