Definition: Monopolistic competition is a market structure which combines elements of monopoly and competitive markets. Essentially a monopolistic competitive market is one with freedom of entry and exit, but firms can differentiate their products. Therefore, they have an inelastic demand curve and so they can set prices. However, because there is freedom of entry, supernormal …
Perfect competition is a market structure with: Freedom of entry and exit Perfect information/knowledge Many firms The price is set by the industry supply and demand. Firms are price takers; this means their demand curve is perfectly elastic. If they set a higher price, nobody would buy because of perfect knowledge. Therefore firms have an …
Definition: Static efficiency is concerned with the most efficient combination of existing resources at a given point in time. For example, static efficiency involves the concept of productive efficiency – producing at the lowest point on the short run average cost curve – given existing resources and factor inputs. Static efficiency is also concerned with …
A production possibility frontier shows how much an economy can produce given existing resources. A production possibility can show the different choices that an economy faces. For example, when an economy produces on the PPF curve, increasing the output of goods will have an opportunity cost of fewer services. Diagram of Production Possibility Frontier Moving …
Definition: Gross fixed capital formation is essentially net investment. It is a component of the Expenditure method of calculating GDP. To be more precise Gross fixed capital formation measures the net increase in fixed capital. Gross fixed capital formation includes spending on land improvements, (fences, ditches, drains, and so on) plant, machinery, and equipment purchases; …
Changes in price cause signals in the market mechanism. For example, if there is an increase in demand this will lead to a higher price and a movement along the supply curve. However, in the long run, high prices act as an incentive for firms to supply more. Therefore firms will expand their production or …
An adverse supply-side shock is an event that causes an unexpected increase in costs or disruption to production. This will cause the short-run aggregate supply curve to shift to the left, leading to higher inflation and lower output. Diagram showing supply-side shock SRAS shifting to the left causes a higher price level and lower real …
Readers Question: What is the relationship between inflation & economic growth? If economic growth is caused by aggregate demand (AD) increasing faster than productive capacity (LRAS) – if economic growth is above the ‘long-run trend rate‘ then economic growth is likely to cause inflation. If economic growth is caused by increased productivity (LRAS), then the …