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Goal of a firm
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maximize profit
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Total revenue
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the amount a firm receives for the sale of its output (quantity sold x price)
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Total cost
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the market value of the inputs a firm uses in production
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Profit
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total revenue minus total cost
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Costs include all of the opportunity costs of inputs used in
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production, total opportunity costs
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Explicit Costs
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input costs that require an outlay of money by the firm (direct costs)
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Implicit Costs
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Do not require an outlay of money by the firm
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Accountants focus on only
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explicit costs
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Economists examine
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explicit and implicit costs
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Economic profit
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total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs
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Accounting profit
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total revenue minus total explicit cost
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If implicit costs are greater than zero
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accounting profit will always exceed economic profit
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Accounting profit=
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economic profit + implicit costs
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Production Function
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the relationship between quantity of inputs used to make a good and the quantity of output of that good (determined by technology)
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Marginal Product
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the increase in output that arises from an additional unit of input (labor)
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Marginal product of labor=
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change in quantity/change in labor
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As the amount of labor used increases
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the marginal product of labor falls
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Diminishing Marginal Product
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Marginal product down, quantity up
Exists when the total cost curve becomes steeper as outputs increase and when the production function becomes flatter as input increases
Exists when the total cost curve becomes steeper as outputs increase and when the production function becomes flatter as input increases
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Total cost=
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Fixed cost + variable cost
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Fixed Costs
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Costs that do not vary with the quantity of output produced
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Variable Costs
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costs that do vary with the quantity of output produced
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Average total costs
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total cost divided by the quantity of output
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Average fixed cost
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fixed cost divided by the quantity of output
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Average variable cost
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variable cost up
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marginal Cost
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the increase in total cost that arises from an extra unit of production
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Marginal cost=
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change in total cost / change in output
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Diminishing marginal product affects marginal cost which can affect
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Average total cost
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As marginal cost goes up, diminishing marginal product
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occurs
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Low level input and high level output create
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rising marginal cost
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Some costs are fixed in short term, but all costs are
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variable in long term
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LATC
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Lowest points of the short-run average-total-cost curves (firm has more flexibility in the long run)
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Economies of Scale
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the property whereby long-run average total cost falls as the quantity of output increases
Major reason: specification
Major reason: specification
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Diseconomies of Scale
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the property whereby long-run average total cost rises as the quantity of output increases
Major reason: Diminishing marginal product
Major reason: Diminishing marginal product
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constant returns to scale
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the property whereby long-run average total cost stays the same as the quantity of output changes