Econ Ch 7 Vocab

Front 1

laissez-faire

Back 1

a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering.

Front 2

market structure

Back 2

organisational and other characteristics of amarket.

Front 3

perfect competition

Back 3

the situation prevailing in a market in which buyers and sellers are so numerous and well informed that all elements of monopoly are absent and the market price of a commodity is beyond the control of individual buyers and sellers.

Front 4

imperfect competition

Back 4

the situation prevailing in a market in which elements of monopoly allow individual producers or consumers to exercise some control over market prices.

Front 5

monopolistic competition

Back 5

imperfect competition such that many producers sell products that are differentiated from one another (e.g. by branding or quality) and hence are not perfect substitutes.

Front 6

product differentiation

Back 6

the process of distinguishing a product or service from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market.

Front 7

nonprice competition

Back 7

a marketing strategy "in which one firm tries to distinguish its product or service from competing products on the basis of attributes like design and workmanship"

Front 8

oligopoly

Back 8

a state of limited competition, in which a market is shared by a small number of producers or sellers.

Front 9

collusion

Back 9

secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others.

Front 10

price-fixing

Back 10

the maintaining of prices at a certain level by agreement between competing sellers.

Front 11

monopoly

Back 11

the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.

Front 12

market failure

Back 12

the quantity of a product demanded by consumers does not equate to the quantity supplied by suppliers.

Front 13

externality

Back 13

a side effect or consequence of an industrial or commercial activity that affects other parties without this being reflected in the cost of the goods or services involved, such as the pollination of surrounding crops by bees kept for honey.

Front 14

positive externality

Back 14

a benefit that is enjoyed by a third-party as a result of an economic transaction.

Front 15

negative externality

Back 15

cost that is suffered by a third party as a result of an economic transaction. In a transaction, the producer and consumer are the first and second parties, and third parties include any individual, organisation, property owner, or resource that is indirectly affected.

Front 16

public goods

Back 16

a commodity or service that is provided without profit to all members of a society, either by the government or a private individual or organization.

Front 17

trust

Back 17

a fiduciary relationship in which one party, known as a trustor, gives another party, the trustee, the right to hold title to property or assets for the benefit of a third party, the beneficiary.

Front 18

price discrimination

Back 18

the action of selling the same product at different prices to different buyers, in order to maximize sales and profits.

Front 19

cease and desist order

Back 19

An order given by a government administrative agency or the courts to stop any suspicious or illegal activities. Falling under the Financial Institutions Regulator Act of 1978, a cease-and-desist order places an injunction on a company or person, prohibiting the activities that are deemed suspect.

Front 20

public disclosure

Back 20

any non-confidential communication which an inventor or invention owner makes available to one or more members of the public, revealing the existence of the invention and enabling an appropriately experienced individual ("person having ordinary skill in the art") to reproduce the invention.