AP微观经济学名词解释总结

　　新东方在线为大家整理了AP微观经济学名词解释总结，供大家参考，希望对大家有所帮助!

　　Chapter One Basic Concepts

　　economics -the study of choices people make in a world of limits *choice- the act of selecting one of many alternative things to do or consume scarcity- people cannot have everything they want; resources and goods are limited compared to desires. *resources- things that are used to make goods. Sometimes called factors or inputs. These include land, labor, skills, capital, and natural resources. *land- the resource of space, especially when used to produce food. Generally, land can usually be used over and over without vanishing. *labor- the time of people as they work to produce things. *skills- ability, talents, and training enabling people to produce things. *capital- a man-made resource, such as machines, tools, and equipment. Capital usually lasts a long time, and can be used without being used up. *natural resources- resources such as oil, coal, minerals, lumber, and water which can be extracted from nature or produced in time with its help. *products- goods or services which have been produced. Sometimes called output. ceteris paribus- examining the effects of one event or circumstance in isolation from everything else by assuming that nothing else is changing. The term is Latin for "everything else being the same." normative economics- subjective judgments about what ought to be or what should happen. These cannot be tested or proven scientifically, as they are only opinion. microeconomics- the study of small-scale decisions and their results. These include the production, consumption, and trade decisions made by individuals, households, business firms, and industries. Government regulation of trade, production, and consumption is also studied. private sector - businesses and individuals macroeconomics- the study of large scale decisions and their results. These include spending, taxing, production, and wealth transfer decisions by governments and countries. The policy decisions that result in unemployment, inflation, economic growth, and high interest rates arealso studied public sector –government

　　Efficiency-the economy is using all of its resources productively, as is ture at every point on the Production possibility frontier.

　　Production possibilities frontier-all the combinations of the two goods that could be produced using all of the available resources and technologies.

　　production possibilities - the combinations of two goods that can be produced with given resources efficient, efficiency -getting the most possible of whatever you are trying to get; efficient is the adjective, production possibilities curve -a graphical representation of the efficient combinations of two goods that are possible to produce at a particular time, given a set of resources (and their current abilities). opportunity cost, when compared with other producers (resources) law of comparative advantage -the rule that says that production of goods is maximized if each resource or producer is used to make the good that the resource or producer can produce at lowest marginal opportunity cost *specialization- concentration on producing one kind of good or performing one kind of action rather than producing a variety of goods for oneself. absolute advantage -the ability to produce a greater amount of some good than other producers

　　opportunity cost-the highest valued alternative given up; the relevant cost in every decision.

　　economic (allocative) efficiency -when all the gains (utility) possible fro trade have been achieved; the situation in which no person can be made better off without making another person worse off;

　　comparative advantage-the ability to produce at lowest opportunity cost; the basis for trade and specialization. absolute advantage-the ability to produce a greater amount with the same resources

　　the law of increasing costs- as more of a product is produced, the opportunity cost increases.

　　wage (w)- the price of each unit of the variable input (usually labor).

　　Rental rate-the price of capital

　　Command economy- the central government dictates what will or will not be produce

　　Capitalism- an economic system where supply and demand determine price

　　Mixed economy-a blend of government commands and capitalism

　　Chapter Two Demand&Supply

　　utility- the benefit, happiness, or satisfaction expected from a choice or option.

　　marginal utility -the benefit (satisfaction) received or anticipated when an additional amount of an activity is undertaken; usually used with marginal opportunity cost. Usually falls as quantity of a particular activity rises, according to the Law of Diminishing Returns.

　　law of diminishing marginal utility- an example of the law of diminishing returns (see Chapter Two), which says that as larger quantities of a good are consumed, the value of an additional or marginal amount will fall. In other words, marginal utility declines as consumption goes up. This is one basis for the law of demand. surplus- a greater quantity supplied than is demanded, indication of price above equilibrium; also called excess supply.

　　demand-the relationship between the price and quantity demanded of a good, all else being held constant; demand is based on marginal utility. *quantity demanded-the amount of a good that buyers wish to buy at a particular price. law of demand - the rule that says that the demand relationship is an inverse or negative one (as price rises, quantity demanded falls, all else being held constant) elastic demand- when buyers are very response to changes in price, due to the availability of substitutes. inelastic demand- when buyers do not respond to changes in price, due to lack of substitutes. quantity supplied-the amount of a good that sellers wish to sell at a particular price.

　　Giffen goods-good for which there is an upward-sloping demand curve(theoretical)

　　Equilibrium pirce- price at which quantity supplied equals quantity deanded *supply-the relationship between the price and quantity supplied of a good, all else being held constant; the relationship between the amount of a good offered for sale by sellers and the price of the good; supply is based on marginal opportunity cost. law of supply- states that the supply relationship is a direct one (as price of a good gets higher, the amount offered for sale will increase, all else being held constant).

　　price ceiling- a maximum price set by the government; a price kept below equilibrium, resulting in a shortage.

　　price controls- prices set by government. price floor-a minimum price set by the government; *market- the total of trades and trade negotiations between buyers and sellers in which they express their desires (reflected in supply and demand). *surplus- a greater quantity supplied than is demanded, indication of price above equilibrium; also called excess supply

　　*black market-opportunity for mutually beneficial but illegal transactions.

　　Chapter Three Elasticity

　　Elastic-the demand for that good is on the more price, the sensitiveness.

　　(price) elasticity of demand-the responsiveness of buyers to changes in price. Specifically, the percentage change in quantity demanded for each percentage change in price, other things being equal. Elasticity can be calculated using the formulas

　　Necessity-the price elasticity is between 0 to 1. The goods people need regardless of price.

　　Luxury- the price elasticity is larger than 1. The goods people will purchase within the acceptance of price.

　　income elasticity- the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in income. Income elasticity could be positive or negative, depending on the good. normal good- a good that will have an increase in demand as income of buyers goes up; the income elasticity for such a good will be positive. inferior good- a good that will have a decrease in demand as income of buyers goes up; the income elasticity for such a good will be negative.

　　Cross-price elasticity of demand-the responsiveness of the quantity demand of one good to the price of another good.

　　substitute- good used instead of another complement- good used along with another

　　Chapter Four consumer choice

　　Total utility-the sum of all the marginal utilities of units already consumed. It is rational for consumer to pursue maximum utility.

　　marginal utility -the benefit (satisfaction) received or anticipated when an additional amount of an activity is undertaken; usually used with marginal opportunity cost. Usually falls as quantity of a particular activity rises, according to the Law of Diminishing Returns.

　　consumer surplus-the total value buyers place on a good over the price they must pay for it; the gains to buyers from trade producer surplus-the payment sellers receive for a good over the cost to them of selling it; the gains from sellers of trade

　　income effect- the effect of budget limitations when price changes; the portion of the change in quantity demanded (when price changes) that is due to buyers being able to afford less or more of a good when the price changes.

　　substitution effect- the tendency to seek substitutes when price changes; the portion of the change in quantity demanded (when price changes) that is due to buyers comparing prices with other goods.

　　Chapter Five Cost &Production

　　long run- period of time long enough to permit a decision maker to change anything. short run- a period of time in which some factors or conditions are fixed and cannot be changed by a decision-maker

　　total product (TP)-the total output that can be produced by utilizing a given number of units of a variable input (usually labor) marginal product (MP)-the additional output that can be produced by adding one more unit of a variable input (usually labor). MP=change in q/change in L (law of) diminishing returns- the situation in which adding an additional unit of variable input (such as labor) increases output by a smaller increment than previous units of labor average product (AP)-the overall output per unit of variable input (usually labor). AP=q/L

　　total cost (TC)- all costs; the sum of FC+VC. implicit cost-cost which considers opportunity cost of resources as well as money costs. explicit cost-money costs or costs for which a bill is paid.

　　*sunk costs- costs that are associated with past decisions and thus cannot influence current decisions. total cost- the sum of all costs, including implicit and explicit costs. variable cost (VC)-that cost which rises as more of a good is produced in the short run; costs of inputs which can be varied in amounts in the short run. In the long run, all costs are variable, so we do not make the distinction in the long run. opportunity cost of capital- the normal or usual annual return one could expect from the dollar value of a capital investment (if the dollar amount was invested in some other way). This is the implicit cost of capital assets of a firm. marginal cost (MC)-the change in cost when one more unit of a good or service is produced. This generally falls when output is increased from very small amounts, but rises when output is increased from moderate or large levels.

　　average variable cost (AVC)-the overall variable cost (cost from variable input) per unit of output. This generally falls when output is increased from small amounts, but rises when output is increased from large levels.

　　average fixed cost (AFC)-the overall fixed cost (cost from fixed inputs) per unit of output; this declines as more output is produced. AFC=FC/q average total cost (ATC)- the overall cost (from all inputs) per unit of output. This generally falls when output is increased from small amounts, but rises when output is increased from large levels. ATC=TC/q; also ATC=AFC+AVC. long run average (total) cost (LRATC or LRAC)-average (total) cost in the long run, determined by the boundary of all the possible short run average total cost curves. This generally falls when output is increased from small amounts, is unchanged when output is moderate, but rises when output is increased from large levels.

　　constant cost industry-if the long run average cost curve does not change as new firms enter the market, the industry is said to be a constant cost industry, and the long run supply curve is horizontal. increasing cost industry-if the long run average cost curve moves up as the number of price taker firms rises, the long run supply curve for the industry may be upward sloping. This may happen if there are diseconomies of scale in producing some input that this industry requires. decreasing cost industry-if the long run average cost curve moves down as the number of price taker firms rises, the long run supply curve for the industry may be downward sloping. This may happen if there are economies of scale in producing some input that this industry requires.

　　economies of scale-declining long run average cost; also called increasing returns to scalediseconomies of scale-rising long run average cost; also called decreasing returns to scale

　　constant returns to scale-long run average cost is neither rising nor falling.

　　economic profit-revenue minus all costs (explicit and implicit) accounting profit-revenues minus explicit costs

　　Chapter Six Markets

　　Profit maximizing Criterion- the level of output at which marginal revenue equals marginal cost

　　price takers-sellers who cannot affect the price of the product by altering output. They exist in a purely competitive market, and may exist in others.

　　Shut-down decision-for perfect competition market, for the shut run the firm should shut down when does not cover average variable cost.

　　Monopoly-one firm constitutes the market or industry where there are no close substitutes available for consumers; a monopolist is a price-maker.

　　*Herfindahl Index-the sum of the squares of market shares of firms in a particular market or industry; used to measured the level of concentrated power of firms in industry

　　Price-Discrimination-this practice charges different customers with different prices for the same product

　　Dead-Weight Loss-the loss to society in the form of a reduction of consumer surplus from a competitive norm beyond any surplus reduction from a monopoly profit.

　　Natural Monopolies-these are monopolies for which competition would prevent the benefits of economies of scale.

　　Monopolistic Comeptition-this form of market structure is characterized by many medium-sized firms that need to innovate and differentiate their products in both price and non-price competition.

　　Oligopoly-this form of market structure is characterized by relatively few sellers who act interdependently and/or collusively to be price-markets. There are strong barriers to entry and exit.

　　Kinked Demand Curve-this curve illustrates the interdependence of rival under non-collusive oligopoly in which rivals match price decreases but do not match price increases of an oligopolist

　　Inefficiency-this is the expected outcome of monopolistic competition derived from underutilizing capacity

　　Game Theory- this theory involves choices made by players based on the reaction expected by opponents as in oligopolies

　　Nash Equilibrium-game theory in which the best choice for a player is based on the strategy of another player

　　Dominant strategy equilibrium- all the players find the perfect strategies.

　　Prisoner’s dilemma-explain dominant strategy and nash equilibrium some time associated to different combination of strategies.

　　*vertical mergers-mergers of firms at various steps in the production process from raw materials to finished products

　　*conglomerate mergers-combinations of firms from unrelated industries

　　*horizontal mergers- mergers of direct competions

　　US. Market antitrust legislation: The Sherman Act; The Clayton Act; The Robinson-Patman Act; The Celler-Kefauver Act;

　　Chapter Seven

　　Derived Demand-the demand for a resource such as labor is derived from the product that the resource helps to produce

　　resource markets- also called "factor markets", these are where labor, capital and natural resources are bought and sold. wage- the price of labor resources. Wages and other resource prices affect the cost of goods and services, and thus their supply. *human capital- skills, education, training and experience that enable a worker to become more productive. These are not used up as the worker works; the worker still has them even though she/he has used them on the job. They also require an investment to obtain, and thus resemble capital, because of the investment and durability characteristics. derived demand- the idea that resources are not desired for themselves, but rather for the value of what they can produce and how much they can produce.

　　productivity-the output produced by an input or resource. Generally, it is measured as the additional product that is produced by adding one more unit of input to the productive process (also called the marginal product of the resource). marginal revenue product (MRP)-the value to a resource buyer of one more unit of a resource. It is defined as the marginal product of the resource times the marginal revenue that can be earned for each unit of good produced by the resource. The marginal revenue product (MRP) is the basis of the demand curve for a resource. *value of marginal product (VMP)-the marginal product of the resource times the price of the good produced by the resource. The value of marginal product is the same as the marginal revenue product (MRP) if the resource buyer is a price taker in selling its product.

　　marginal factor cost - the cost to an employer of buying one more unit of a resource, such as labor. In competition, this will be the same as the wage. However, for a monopsony, it will be greater than the wage. monopsony- a single buyer of a good or resource, such as the only employer of a particular kind of labor.

　　*human capital- skills, education, training and experience that enable a worker to become more productive. These are not used up as the worker works; the worker still has them even though she/he has used them on the job. They also require an investment to obtain, and thus resemble capital, because of the investment and durability characteristics.

　　compensating wage differentials- wage differences that are based on job characteristics such as unpleasantness or danger of a profession.

　　Lorenz Curve-a curve that measures the degree of income inequality as contrasted with income equality

　　Chapter Eight Public sector

　　Externality -when a decision imposes a cost (negative externality) or imparts a benefit (positive externality) to people not involved in the decision making. Public Goods- goods for which the consumption by one person does not exhaust the amount available for others, and for which prevention of consumption is difficult

　　social cost-those costs which are incurred by the public,. Polluted waterways; those are costs not captured by the market

　　social benefits-those benefits which are realized by the public or outside the buyer/seller exchange

　　pure Private Good a good that has exclusion and distributive characteristics

　　Technological efficiency-the identification of those inputs that have the greatest effect on output per $ of input expenditure

　　Pareto Efficiency-the optimal point(efficient point) for society when any further improvement for some comes at the expense of others

　　Quasi-Public Goods-goods which have some limited private good characteristics such as congestible public goods and price-excludable public goods

　　Market failure-occurs when resources are not allocated optimally. It may result from: externality, imperfect completion, public goods, imperfect information;

　　Imperfect information-buyers and/or sellers do not have full knowledge about available markets,prices,products,customers,suppliers and so forth.

　　Nonrival-one person’s consumption of that good does not affect its consumption by others

　　Nonexcludable-goods cannot be held back from those who desire access.

　　Poverty line-the official benchmark of poverty

　　Progressive tax-the government receives a larger percentage of revenue from families with larger incomes

　　*Regressive tax-collects a larger percentage of revenue from families with smaller incomes

　　*Proportional tax-collects the same percentage of income from all families

　　*Social security-program provides cash benefits and health insure to retired and disabled workers and their families

　　*Public Assistance-welfare typically provides temporary assistance to the very poor

　　*Supplemental Security Income-assists very poor elderly individuals who have virtually no assets and little or no social security entitlement

　　Unemployment compensation-provides temporary assistance to unemployed workers

　　*Medicaid provides health and hospitalization benefits to the poor

　　*Food stamp/Public Housing-programs provide food and shelter for the poor