Economic Concepts, ABA-EXT
Economic terms and concepts include microeconomics (supply and demand, consumption and production by individuals) and macroeconomics (the study of aggregate economies and trade).
Economic Concepts Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Abandonment
Abandonment, in Anglo-American property law, the relinquishment of possession of property with an intent to terminate......
Absentee ownership
Absentee ownership, originally, ownership of land by proprietors who did not reside on the land or cultivate it......
absolute advantage
absolute advantage, economic concept that is used to refer to a partyâs superior production capability. Specifically,......
administered price
administered price, price determined by an individual producer or seller and not purely by market forces. Administered......
Adverse possession
Adverse possession, in Anglo-American property law, holding of property under some claim of right with the knowledge......
adverse selection
Adverse selection is a term used in economics and insurance to describe a market process in which buyers or sellers......
Affreightment
Affreightment, contract for carriage of goods by water, âfreightâ being the price paid for the service of carriage.......
African socialism
African socialism, socialist doctrines adopted by several African leaders at the close of French and British colonial......
agency theory, financial
financial agency theory, in organizational economics, a means of assessing the work being done for a principal......
Agricultural economics
Agricultural economics, study of the allocation, distribution, and utilization of the resources used, along with......
allocation of resources
allocation of resources, apportionment of productive assets among different uses. Resource allocation arises as......
Alpwirtschaft
Alpwirtschaft, type of pastoral nomadism that forms a unique economic system in the Alps and involves the migration......
anarcho-capitalism
anarcho-capitalism, political philosophy and political-economic theory that advocates the voluntary exchange of......
anticonsumerism movement
anticonsumerism movement, a social ideology that decries the excessive purchasing and consumption of material possessions.......
Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa
Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, bank created by the Arab League summit conference in Algiers in November......
arbitrage
arbitrage, business operation involving the purchase of foreign exchange, gold, financial securities, or commodities......
Asian Development Bank
Asian Development Bank (ADB), organization that provides loans and equity investments for development projects......
assembly line
assembly line, industrial arrangement of machines, equipment, and workers for continuous flow of workpieces in......
Augmentations, Court of
Court of Augmentations, in Reformation England, the most important of a group of financial courts organized during......
austerity
austerity, a set of economic policies, usually consisting of tax increases, spending cuts, or a combination of......
Austrian school of economics
Austrian school of economics, body of economic theory developed in the late 19th century by Austrian economists......
autarky
Autarky is an economic system of self-sufficiency and limited trade. A country is said to be in a complete state......
Bailment
Bailment, in Anglo-American property law, delivery of specific goods by one person, called the bailor, to another......
balance of payments
balance of payments, systematic record of all economic transactions between residents of one country and residents......
barriers to entry
barriers to entry, in economics, obstacles that make it difficult for a firm to enter a given market. They may......
Beneficiary
Beneficiary, in Anglo-American law, one for whose benefit a trust is created. Beneficiaries of private trusts must......
Big Mac index
Currency values vary from country to country. For example, a dollar spent in the U.S. might not buy the same amount......
Billionaires giving it all away: How the Giving Pledge works (and doesnât work)
In the first 50 years of his life, Charles Feeney went from being the child of a nurse and an insurance underwriter......
black market
black market, trading in violation of publicly imposed regulations such as rationing laws, laws against certain......
bottom of the pyramid
bottom of the pyramid (BOP), term in economics that refers to the poorest two-thirds of the economic human pyramid,......
business cycle
business cycle, periodic fluctuations in the general rate of economic activity, as measured by the levels of employment,......
campaign finance
campaign finance, raising and spending of money intended to influence a political vote, such as the election of......
capital and interest
capital and interest, in economics, a stock of resources that may be employed in the production of goods and services......
Capital asset pricing model
The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is a financial model that calculates the expected return on a stock or other......
capitalism
capitalism, economic system, dominant in the Western world since the breakup of feudalism, in which most means......
cartel
cartel, association of independent firms or individuals for the purpose of exerting some form of restrictive or......
central-place theory
central-place theory, in geography, an element of location theory (q.v.) concerning the size and distribution of......
civil forfeiture
civil forfeiture, legal process that enables a government to seize property and other assets belonging to persons......
classical economics
classical economics, English school of economic thought that originated during the late 18th century with Adam......
cobweb cycle
cobweb cycle, in economics, fluctuations occurring in markets in which the quantity supplied by producers depends......
collateral
collateral, a borrowerâs pledge to a lender of something specific that is used to secure the repayment of a loan......
collectivization
collectivization, policy adopted by the Soviet government, pursued most intensively between 1929 and 1933, to transform......
collusion
collusion, secret agreement and cooperation between interested parties for a purpose that is fraudulent, deceitful,......
command economy
command economy, economic system in which the means of production are publicly owned and economic activity is controlled......
Confiscation
Confiscation, in property law, act of appropriating private property for state or sovereign use. Confiscation as......
conspicuous consumption
conspicuous consumption, term in economics that describes and explains the practice by consumers of using goods......
consumer advocacy
consumer advocacy, movement or policies aimed at regulating the products, services, methods, and standards of manufacturers,......
consumer confidence
consumer confidence, an economic indicator that measures the degree of optimism that consumers have regarding the......
consumer good
consumer good, in economics, any tangible commodity produced and subsequently purchased to satisfy the current......
consumer price index
A consumer price index (CPI) is a measure of living costs based on changes in retail prices. Such indexes are generally......
consumer surplus
consumer surplus, in economics, the difference between the price a consumer pays for an item and the price he would......
consumerism
consumerism, in economics, the theory that consumer spending, or spending by individuals on consumer goods and......
consumption
consumption, in economics, the use of goods and services by households. Consumption is distinct from consumption......
consumption function
consumption function, in economics, the relationship between consumer spending and the various factors determining......
contingent valuation
contingent valuation, a survey-based method of determining the economic value of a nonmarket resource. It is used......
Contract
Contract, in the simplest definition, a promise enforceable by law. The promise may be to do something or to refrain......
corporate code of conduct
corporate code of conduct (CCC), codified set of ethical standards to which a corporation aims to adhere. Commonly......
cost
Cost is the monetary value of goods and services purchased by producers and consumers. For example, a consumer......
cost of living
cost of living, monetary cost of maintaining a particular standard of living, usually measured by calculating the......
creative destruction
Creative destruction is the process by which innovation reshapes an economy as new and superior combinations of......
Deed
Deed, in law, a written instrument for the transfer of title to real estate. At common law, the deed was a contract......
defense economics
defense economics, field of national economic management concerned with the economic effects of military expenditure,......
demand curve
demand curve, in economics, a graphic representation of the relationship between product price and the quantity......
democratic centralism
democratic centralism, decision-making practice and disciplinary policy adopted by the Communist Party of the Soviet......
depreciation
depreciation, in accounting, the allocation of the cost of an asset over its economic life. Depreciation covers......
depression
depression, in economics, a major downturn in the business cycle characterized by sharp and sustained declines......
developing country
developing country, a country which, relative to other countries, has a lower average standard of living. There......
development theory
development theory, cluster of research and theories on economic and political development. The use of the term......
diminishing returns
The law of diminishing returns says that, if you keep increasing one factor in the production of goods (such as......
dirigisme
dirigisme, an approach to economic development emphasizing the positive role of state intervention. The term dirigisme......
disposable income
disposable income, that portion of an individualâs income over which the recipient has complete discretion. An......
distribution theory
distribution theory, in economics, the systematic attempt to account for the sharing of the national income among......
Dutch disease and the resource curse: Paradoxes of plenty
In the late 1950s, petroleum geologists who were searching for oil ended up discovering a huge natural gas field......
econometrics
econometrics, the statistical and mathematical analysis of economic relationships, often serving as a basis for......
economic development
economic development, the process whereby simple, low-income national economies are transformed into modern industrial......
economic forecasting
economic forecasting, the prediction of any of the elements of economic activity. Such forecasts may be made in......
economic growth
economic growth, the process by which a nationâs wealth increases over time. Although the term is often used in......
economic indicator
An economic indicator is a statistic that analysts use, along with other indicators, in an attempt to determine......
economic openness
economic openness, in political economy, the degree to which nondomestic transactions (imports and exports) take......
economic planning
economic planning, the process by which key economic decisions are made or influenced by central governments. It......
economic rationality
economic rationality, conceptions of rationality used in economic theory. Although there is no single notion of......
economic stabilizer
economic stabilizer, any of the institutions and practices in an economy that serve to reduce fluctuations in the......
economic system
economic system, any of the ways in which humankind has arranged for its material provisioning. One would think......
economics
economics, social science that seeks to analyze and describe the production, distribution, and consumption of wealth.......
Economist, The
The Economist, weekly magazine of news and opinion published in London and generally regarded as one of the worldâs......
economy of scale
economy of scale, in economics, the relationship between the size of a plant or industry and the lowest possible......
efficiency
efficiency, in economics and organizational analysis, a measure of the input a system requires to achieve a specified......
Ejectment
Ejectment, in Anglo-American property law, legal action for recovery of land from one wrongfully in possession......
elasticity
elasticity, in economics, a measure of the responsiveness of one economic variable to another. A variable y (e.g.,......
Eminent domain
Eminent domain, power of government to take private property for public use without the ownerâs consent. Constitutional......
environmental economics
environmental economics, subdiscipline of economics that applies the values and tools of mainstream macroeconomics......
Equation of exchange
The equation of exchange is an identity that expresses the same economic activity in two ways: It is written as......
Escrow
Escrow is a way of setting aside money or other assets until theyâre needed or certain conditions are met. Itâs......
ethical consumerism
ethical consumerism, form of political activism based on the premise that purchasers in markets consume not only......
euro-zone debt crisis
euro-zone debt crisis, The euro-zone debt crisis was a period of economic uncertainty in the euro zone beginning......
Eviction
Eviction, the process of dispossessing a person of land, be it lawful or unlawful. Subject to any statutory provisions,......
evolutionary economics
evolutionary economics, field of economics that focuses on changes over time in the processes of material provisioning......
expansion
expansion, in economics, an upward trend in the business cycle, characterized by an increase in production and......
extended producer responsibility
extended producer responsibility, a practice and a policy approach in which producers take responsibility for management......
externality
When a transaction takes place between two entitiesâsuch as people, companies, or municipalitiesâitâs easy to assume......