微观经济学中英文术语及其解释.doc

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Scarcity the limited nature of society’s resources Economics the study of how society manages its scarce resources Efficiency the property of society getting the most it can from its scarce resources Equity the property of distributing economic prosperity fairly among the members of society Opportunity cost whatever must be given up to obtain some item Marginal changes small incremental adjustments to a plan of action Market economy an economy that allocates resources through the decentralized decisions of many firms and households as they interact in markets for goods and services Market failure a s/tuition in which a market left on its own fails to allocate resources efficiently Externality the impact of one person’s actions on the well-being of a bystander Market power the ability of a single economic actor (or small group of actors) to have a substantial influence on market prices Productivity the quantity of goods and services produced from each hour of a worker’s time Inflation an increase in the overall level of prices in the economy Philips curve a curve that shows the short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment Business cycle fluctuations in economic activity，such as employment and produaion Circular-flow diagram a visual model of the economy that shows how dollars flow through markets among households and firms Production possibilities frontier a graph that shows the combinations of output that the economy can possibly produce given the available factors of production and the available production technology Positive statements claims that attempt to do describe the world as it is Normative statements claims that attempt to prescribe how the world should be Absolute advantage the comparison among producers of a good according to their productivity Opportunity cost whatever must be given up to obtain some item Comparative advantage the comparison among producers of a good according to their opportunity cost Imports goods produced abroad and sold domestically Exports goods produced domestically and sold abroad Market a group of buyers and sellers of a particular good or service Competitive market a market in which there are many buyers and many sellers so that each has a negligible impact on the market price Quantity demanded the amount of a good that buyers are willing and able to-purchase Law of demand the claim that, other things equal, the quantity demanded of a good falls when the price of the good rises Demand schedule a table that shows the relationship between the price of a good and-the quantity demanded Demand curve a graph of the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity demanded Normal good a good for which, other things equal, an increase in income leads to an increase in demand Inferior good a good for which, other things equal, an increase in income leads ‘to a decrease in demand Substitutes two goods for which an increase in the price of one leads to an increase in the demand for the other Complements two goods for which an increase in the price of one leads to a decrease in the demand for the other Quantity supplied the amount of a good that sellers are willing and able to sell Law of supply the claim that, other things equal, the quantity supplied of a good rises when the price of the good rises Supply schedule a table that shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied Supply curve a graph of the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity supplied Equilibrium a situation in which the price has reached the level where quantity supplied equals quantity demanded Equilibrium price the price that balances quantity supplied and quantity demanded Equilibrium quantity the quantity supplied and the quantity demanded at the equilibrium price Surplus a situation in which quantity supplied is greater than quantity demanded Shortage a situation in which quantity demanded is greater than quantity supplied Laws of supply and demand the claim that the price of any good adjusts to bring the quantity supplied and the quantity demanded for that good into balance Elasticity a measure of the responsiveness of quantity demanded or quantity supplied to one of its determinants Price elasticity of demand a measure of how much the quantity demanded of a good responds to a change in the price of that good, computed as the e percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price Income elasticity of demand a measure of how much the quantity demanded of a good responds to a change in consumers’ income, computed as the percentage change tn quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in income Cross-price elasticity of demand a measure of how much the quantity demanded of one good respond to a change in the price of another good, computed as the percentage change m quantity demanded of the first good divided by the percentage change in the price of the second good Price elasticity of supply a measure of how much the quantity supplied of a good responds to a change in the price of that good, computed as the percentage change in quantity supplied divided by the percentage change in price Price ceiling a legal maximum on the price at which a good can be sold Price floor a legal minimum on the price at which a good can be sold Tax incidence the manner in which the burden of a tax is shared among participants in a market Welfare economics the study of how the allocation of resources affects economic well-being Willingness to pay the maximum amount that a buyer will pay for a good Consumer surplus a buyer’s willingness to pay minus the amount the buyer actually pays Cost the value of everything a seller must give up to produce a good Producer surplus the amount a seller is paid for a good minus the seller’s cost Efficiency the property of a resource allocation of maximizing the total surplus received by all members of society Equity the fairness of the distribution of well-being among the members of society Deadweight loss the fall in total surplus that results from a market distortion, such as a tax World price the price of a good that prevails in the world market for that good Tariff a tax on goods produced abroad and sold domestically Import quota a limit on the quantity of a good that can be produced abroad and sold domestically Externality the uncompensated impact of one person’s actions on the well-being of a bystander Internalizing an externality altering incentives so that people take account of the external effects of their actions Coase theorem the proposition that if private parties can bargain without cost over the allocation of resources, they can solve the problem of externalities on their own Transaction costs the costs that parties incur in the process of agreeing and following through on a bargain Pigovian tax a tax enacted to correct the effects of a negative externality Excludability the property of a good whereby a person can be prevented from using it Rivalry the property of a good whereby one person’s use diminishes other people’s use Private goods goods that are both excludable and rival Public goods goods that are neither excludable nor rival Common resources goods that are rival but not excludable Free rider a person who receives the benefit of a good but avoids paying for it Cost-benefit analysis a study that compares the costs and benefits to society of providing a public good Tragedy of the Commons a parable that illustrates why common resources get used more than is desirable from the standpoint of society as a whole Budget surplus an excess of government receipts over government spending Budget deficit an excess of government spending over government receipts Average tax rate total taxes paid divided by total income Marginal tax rate the extra taxes paid on an additional dollar of income Lump-sum tax a tax that is the same amount for every person Benefits principle the idea that people should pay taxes based on the benefits they receive from government services Ability-to-pay principle the idea that taxes’ should be levied on a person according to how well that person can shoulder the burden Vertical equity the idea that taxpayers with a greater ability to pay taxes should pay larger amounts Horizontal equity the idea that taxpayers with similar abilities to pay taxes should pay the same amount Proportional tax a tax for which high-income and low-income taxpayers pay the same fraction of income Regressive tax a tax for which high-income taxpayers pay a smaller fraction of their income than do low-income taxpayers Progressive tax a tax for which high-income taxpayers pay a larger fraction of their income than do low-income taxpayers Total revenue the amount a firm receives for the sale of its output Total cost the market value of the inputs a firm uses in production Profit total revenue minus total cost Explicit costs input costs that require an outlay of money by the firm Implicit costs input costs that do not require an outlay of money by the firm Economic profit total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs Accounting profit total revenue minus total explicit cost Production function the relationship between quantity of inputs used to make a good and the quantity of output of the good Marginal product the increase in output that arises from an additional unit of input Diminishing marginal product the property whereby the marginal product of an input declines as the quantity of the input increases Fixed costs costs that do not vary with the quantity of output produced Variable costs costs that do vary with the quantity of output produced Average total cost total cost divided by the quantity of output Average fixed cost fixed costs divided by the quantity of output Average variable cost variable costs divided by the quantity of output Marginal cost the increase in total cost that arises from an extra unit of production Efficient scale the quantity of output that minimizes average total cost Economies of scale the property whereby long-run average total cost falls as the quantity of output increases Diseconomies of scale the property whereby long-run average total cost rises as the quantity of output increases Constant returns to scale the property whereby long-run average total cost stays the same as the quantity of output changes Competitive market a market with many buyers and sellers trading identical products so that each buyer and setter is a price taker Average revenue total revenue divided by the quantity sold Marginal revenue the change in total revenue from an additional unit sold Sunk cost a cost that has already been committed and cannot be recovered Monopoly a firm that is the sole seller of a product without close substitutes Natural monopoly a monopoly that arises because a single firm can supply a good or service to an entire market at a smaller cost than could two or more firms Price discrimination the business practice of selling the same good at different prices to different customers Oligopoly a market structure in which only a few settlers offer similar or identical products Monopolistic competition a market structure in which many firms sell products that are similar but not identical Collusion an agreement among firms in a market about quantities to produce or prices to charge Cartel a group of firms acting in unison Nash equilibrium a situation in which economic actors interacting with one another each choose their best strategy given the strategies that a/l the other actors have chosen Game theory the study of how people behave in strategic situations Prisoners’ dilemma a particular “game’ between two captured prisoners that illustrates why cooperation is difficult to maintain even when it is mutually beneficial Dominant strategy a strategy that is best for a player in a game regardless of the strategies chosen by the other players Monopolistic competition a market structure in which many firms sell products that are similar but not identical Factors of production the inputs used’ to produce goods and services Production function the relationship between the quantity of inputs used to make a good and the quantity of output of that good Marginal product of labor the increase in the amount of output from an additional unit of labor Diminishing marginal product the property whereby the marginal product of an input declines as the quantity of the input increases Value of the marginal product the marginal product of an input times the price of the output Capital the equipment and structures used to produce goods and services Compensating differential a difference in wages that arises to offset the nonmonetary characteristics of different jobs Human capital the accumulation of investments in people, such as education and on-the-job training Union a worker association that bargains with employers over wages and working conditions Strike the organized withdrawal of labor from a firm by union Efficiency wages above-equilibrium wages paid by firms in order to increase worker productivity Discrimination the offering of different opportunities to similar individuals who differ only by race, ethnic group, sex, age, or other personal characteristics Poverty rate the percentage of the population whose family income falls below an absolute level called the poverty line Poverty line an absolute level of income set by the federal government for each family size below which a family is deemed to be in poverty In-kind transfers transfers to the poor given in the form of goods and services-rather than cash Life cycle the regular pattern of income variation over a person’s life Permanent income a person’s normal income Utilitarianism the political philosophy according to which the government should choose policies to maximize the total utility of everyone in society Utility a measure of happiness or satisfaction Liberalism the political philosophy according to which the government should choose policies deemed to be just, as evaluated by an impartial observer behind a “veil of ignorance’’ Maximin criterion the claim that the government should aim to maximize the well-being of the worst-off person in society Libertarianism the political philosophy according to which the government should punish crimes and enforce voluntary agreements but not redistribute income Welfare government programs that supplement the incomes of the needy Negative income tax a tax system that collects revenue from high-income households and gives transfers to tow-income households Budget constraint the limit on the consumption bundles that a consumer can afford Indifference curve a curve that shows consumption bundles that give the consumer the same level of satisfaction Marginal rate of substitution the rate at which a consumer is

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