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
(完整版)微观经济学中英文术语及其解释
