微观经济学中英文术语及其解释.docx

1、微观经济学中英文术语及其解释Scarcity the limited nature of societys resourcesEconomics the study of how society manages its scarce resourcesEfficiency the property of society getting the most it can from its scarce resourcesEquity the property of distributing economic prosperity fairly among the members of societ

2、yOpportunity cost whatever must be given up to obtain some itemMarginal changes small incremental adjustments to a plan of actionMarket economy an economy that allocates resources through the decentralized decisions of many firms and households as they interact in markets for goods and servicesMarke

3、t failure a s/tuition in which a market left on its own fails to allocate resources efficientlyExternality the impact of one persons actions on the well-being of a bystanderMarket power the ability of a single economic actor (or small group of actors) to have a substantial influence on market prices

4、Productivity the quantity of goods and services produced from each hour of a workers timeInflation an increase in the overall level of prices in the economyPhilips curve a curve that shows the short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemploymentBusiness cycle fluctuations in economic activity，such

5、as employment and produaionCircular-flow diagram a visual model of the economy that shows how dollars flow through markets among households and firmsProduction possibilities frontier a graph that shows the combinations of output that the economy can possibly produce given the available factors of pr

6、oduction and the available production technologyPositive statements claims that attempt to do describe the world as it isNormative statements claims that attempt to prescribe how the world should beAbsolute advantage the comparison among producers of a good according to their productivityOpportunity

7、 cost whatever must be given up to obtain some itemComparative advantage the comparison among producers of a good according to their opportunity costImports goods produced abroad and sold domesticallyExports goods produced domestically and sold abroadMarket a group of buyers and sellers of a particu

8、lar good or serviceCompetitive market a market in which there are many buyers and many sellers so that each has a negligible impact on the market priceQuantity demanded the amount of a good that buyers are willing and able to-purchaseLaw of demand the claim that, other things equal, the quantity dem

9、anded of a good falls when the price of the good risesDemand schedule a table that shows the relationship between the price of a good and-the quantity demandedDemand curve a graph of the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity demandedNormal good a good for which, other things equa

10、l, an increase in income leads to an increase in demandInferior good a good for which, other things equal, an increase in income leads to a decrease in demandSubstitutes two goods for which an increase in the price of one leads to an increase in the demand for the otherComplements two goods for whic

11、h an increase in the price of one leads to a decrease in the demand for the otherQuantity supplied the amount of a good that sellers are willing and able to sellLaw of supply the claim that, other things equal, the quantity supplied of a good rises when the price of the good risesSupply schedule a t

12、able that shows the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity suppliedSupply curve a graph of the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity suppliedEquilibrium a situation in which the price has reached the level where quantity supplied equals quantity demandedEquilib

13、rium price the price that balances quantity supplied and quantity demandedEquilibrium quantity the quantity supplied and the quantity demanded at the equilibrium priceSurplus a situation in which quantity supplied is greater than quantity demandedShortage a situation in which quantity demanded is gr

14、eater than quantity suppliedLaws 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 balanceElasticity a measure of the responsiveness of quantity demanded or quantity supplied to one of its determinantsPrice e

15、lasticity 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 priceIncome elasticity of demand a measure of how much the quantity demanded of a goo

16、d responds to a change in consumers income, computed as the percentage change tn quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in incomeCross-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