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explicit costs
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input costs that require an outlay of money by the firm
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implicit costs
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input costs that do not require an outlay of money by the firm
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accounting profit
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total revenue minus total explicit cost
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economic profit
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a firm's total revenue minus its explicit and implicit costs
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normal profit
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the accounting profit earned when all resources earn their opportunity cost
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optimal output rule
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profit is maximized by producing the quantity of output at which the marginal revenue of the last unit produced is equal to its marginal cost
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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
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fix cost
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a cost that does not change, no matter how much of a good is produced
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variable cost
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a cost that rises or falls depending on how much is produced
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total cost
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the sum of fixed and variable costs
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short run costs
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fixed costs and variable costs
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long run costs
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all costs are variable, no fixed costs
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minimum-cost output
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the quantity of output at which the average total cost is lowest—the bottom of the U-shaped average total cost curve.
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economics of scale
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factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as output rises
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Diseconomics of Scale
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forces that may eventually increase a firm's average cost as the scale of operation increases in the long run
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constant returns to scale
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the situation in which a firm's long-run average costs remain unchanged as it increases output
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sunk cost
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a cost that has already been committed and cannot be recovered
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price taker
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a buyer or seller that is unable to affect the market price
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perfectly competitive market
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A market that meets the conditions of (1) many buyers and sellers, (2) all firms selling identical products, and (3) no barriers to new firms entering the market.
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standardized products
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Products that are identical and have the same value.
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free entry and exit
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when new producers can easily enter into an industry and existing producers can easily leave that industry
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break even price
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The price where average revenue is equal to average total cost. Below this price, the firm will shut down in the long run.
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shut down price
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The price where average revenue is equal to average variable cost. Below this price, the firm will shut down in the short run.