microeconomics
Individual market behavior
Microeconomics is the branch of economics concerned with individual actors—consumers, firms, workers—and how they make decisions about allocating limited resources.
It examines how prices emerge from supply and demand, how markets function, and why people choose one thing over another.
Contrast with macroeconomics, which studies entire economies: inflation, unemployment, national output.
The microeconomics of ride-sharing apps shows how surge pricing balances supply and demand.
Furnish or stock
- demandForceful request or requirement
- equilibriumState of balance
- priceMonetary value assigned
- quantityMeasurable amount present
competition · monopoly · oligopoly · duopoly · perfect competition · elasticity · inelasticity · market failure
Forceful request or requirement
- utilityFunctional worth or purpose
- preferencesFavored options among alternatives
- budgetPlan for spending
- choiceAct of selecting
consumption · satisfaction · rationality · welfare · income · substitutes · complements · goods
Achieving greatest possible amount
- minimizationMaking as small as possible
- constraintLimiting condition or rule
- trade-offExchange requiring sacrifice
- allocationDistribution of shares
efficiency · calculus · derivatives · decision-making · cost-benefit · opportunity cost · rational choice
Compulsory government revenue collection
- subsidiesFinancial aid from government
- price ceilingMandated maximum charge
- price floorLowest permitted cost
- minimum wageLowest lawful hourly rate
regulation · antitrust · public goods · externalities · Pigouvian tax · efficiency · equity · incentives
Making or generating something
- costsAmounts required to pay
- revenueBusiness income total
- profitGain exceeding expenditure
- marginal costPer-unit production increase expense
average cost · fixed costs · variable costs · economies of scale · supply curve · break-even · output · inputs
supply
Furnish or stock
- demandForceful request or requirement
- equilibriumState of balance
- priceMonetary value assigned
quantity · competition · monopoly · oligopoly · duopoly · perfect competition · elasticity · inelasticity · market failure · externalities
demand
Forceful request or requirement
- utilityFunctional worth or purpose
- preferencesFavored options among alternatives
- budgetPlan for spending
choice · consumption · satisfaction · rationality · welfare · income · substitutes · complements · goods · services
maximization
Achieving greatest possible amount
- minimizationMaking as small as possible
- constraintLimiting condition or rule
- trade-offExchange requiring sacrifice
allocation · efficiency · calculus · derivatives · decision-making · cost-benefit · opportunity cost · rational choice
taxation
Compulsory government revenue collection
- subsidiesFinancial aid from government
- price ceilingMandated maximum charge
- price floorLowest permitted cost
minimum wage · regulation · antitrust · public goods · externalities · Pigouvian tax · efficiency · equity · incentives · government failure
production
Making or generating something
marginal cost · average cost · fixed costs · variable costs · economies of scale · supply curve · break-even · output · inputs · long run
- economicssupply and demand, inflation, GDP, GNP, gross domestic product
- college coursesbiology, calculus, chemistry, physics, quantum physics
- economics departmentprofessors, faculty, department head, chair, graduate students
- introductory textbookscalculus textbook, algebra textbook, organic chemistry, environmental science
- Micromicrobe, microbes, microchip, microchips, microscope
- subdisciplinesbiochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, cell biology, genetics
microeconomicsmacroeconomics
Study of aggregate economies
macro · Keynesian economics · political economy · fiscal policy