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technology
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the processes a firm uses to turn inputs into outputs
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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 fixed quantity of inputs
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negative technological change
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takes inputs and produces less outputs
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positive technological change
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takes inputs and produces more outputs
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profit
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total revenue minus total cost (TR-TC)
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total revenue
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the income a firm receives for the sale of its outputs
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total cost
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market value of the inputs a firm uses in production
-sum of explicit and implicit costs
-sum of explicit and implicit costs
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explicit costs
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cost that involves a direct payment of money
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implicit costs
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a non-monetary cost associated with an inputs next best alternative
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economic profit
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TR-TC where TC includes explicit and implicit costs
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accounting profit
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TR-TEC ignores the implicit cost
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short run
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a period during which at least one of a firms inputs is fixed (capital)
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long run
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a period in which none of the factors of production are fixed
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variable cost (VC)
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the costs that change as output changes
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fixed cost (FC)
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the costs that remain constant as output changes
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TC=
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FC + VC
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average total cost (ATC)
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total costs divided by quantity of output
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average fixed cost (AFC)
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fixed cost divided by the quantity of output
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average variable cost (AVC)
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variable cost divided by the quantity of output
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production function
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captures the relationship between the inputs employed by a firm and the corresponding quantity of output
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marginal product
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the additional output a firm produces as a result of employing an additional unit of some input
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law of diminishing returns
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at some point, adding more of a variable input to the same amount of a fixed input will cause the marginal product of the variable input to decline
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marginal product of labor (MPL)
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the additional output a firm produces as a result of hiring one more worker
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marginal cost (MC)
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the increase in a firm's total cost from producing one more unit of a good or service
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long run average total cost (ATC)
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captures the lowest cost at which a firm can produce a given quantity of output in the long run
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economies of scale
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as output increases, long run average total cost decreases
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constant returns to scale
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long run average total cost remains unchanged as the firm increases output
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minimum efficient scale
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the lowest level of output at which an economy of scale is completely exhausted
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diseconomies of scale
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the situation where a firms long run average total cost increases as output increases
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economies of scale arise because of
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1. specialization
2. bulk discounts (in terms of input prices)
3. some products require a large scale of production
2. bulk discounts (in terms of input prices)
3. some products require a large scale of production
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diseconomies of scales arise because of
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1. the firm employs some inputs that are poorly suited for production
2. coordination efficiencies
3. problems devising an efficient compensation structure
2. coordination efficiencies
3. problems devising an efficient compensation structure
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coordination inefficiencies
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at some point, managers may have difficulty coordinating huge operations