1. Trade-Offs, Comparative Advantage, and the Market System
Chapter 2
Trade-Offs, Comparative Advantage,
and the Market System 1
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2. Managers Making Choices at BMW: the Cases of BMW-Egypt and BMW-US
LEARNING Objectives
2.1
Use a production possibilities frontier to analyze opportunity costs and trade-offs.
2.2
Understand comparative advantage and explain how it is the basis for trade.
2.3
Explain the basic idea of how a market system works.
To compete in the automobile market, the managers of BMW must make many strategic decisions, such as whether to introduce a new car model. 2
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3. Trade-offs, Comparative Advantage, and the Market System
Scarcity The situation in which unlimited wants exceed the limited resources available to fulfill those wants. 3
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4. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Learning Objective 2.1
Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Production possibilities frontier (PPF) A curve showing the maximum attainable combinations of two products that may be produced with available resources and current technology. 4
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5. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Learning Objective 2.1
Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Graphing the Production Possibilities Frontier
FIGURE 2-1
BMW’s Production Possibilities Frontier 5
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6. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Learning Objective 2.1
Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Graphing the Production Possibilities Frontier
Opportunity cost The highest-valued alternative that must be given up to engage in an activity. 6
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7. Solved Problem 2-1 Learning Objective 2.1
Drawing a Production Possibilities Frontier for Rosie’s Boston Bakery 7
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8. Trade-Offs: The Pattern of Charitable Giving in the Arab World
Learning Objective 2.1
Making the Connection
Trade-Offs: The Pattern of Charitable Giving in the Arab World
Charitable giving is a fundamental feature of the Arab culture. But as the number of charitable agencies started to increase, they began to compete for people’s donations and thus, a trade-off exists. For example, the more the charitable giving is directed to Children’s Cancer Hospital in Egypt (57357),
the less will be available to the
National Cancer Institute. 8
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9. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Learning Objective 2.1
Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Increasing Marginal Opportunity Costs
FIGURE 2-2
Increasing Marginal Opportunity Cost 9
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10. Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Learning Objective 2.1
Production Possibilities Frontiers and Opportunity Costs
Economic Growth
FIGURE 2-3
Economic Growth
Economic growth The ability of the economy to produce increasing quantities of goods and services. 10
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11. Quiz 1

12. Comparative Advantage and Trade
Learning Objective 2.2
Comparative Advantage and Trade
Trade The act of buying or selling.
Specialization and Gains from Trade
FIGURE 2-4
Production Possibilities for You and Your Neighbor, without Trade 12
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13. Comparative Advantage and Trade
Learning Objective 2.2
Comparative Advantage and Trade
Specialization and Gains from Trade
FIGURE 2-5
Gains from Trade 13
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14. Comparative Advantage and Trade
Learning Objective 2.2
Comparative Advantage and Trade
Specialization and Gains from Trade
TABLE 2-1
A Summary of the Gains from Trade 14
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15. Comparative Advantage and Trade
Learning Objective 2.2
Comparative Advantage and Trade
Absolute Advantage versus Comparative Advantage
Absolute advantage The ability of an individual, a firm, or a country to produce more of a good or service than competitors, using the same amount of resources. 15
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16. Comparative Advantage and Trade
Learning Objective 2.2
Comparative Advantage and Trade
Absolute Advantage versus Comparative Advantage
Comparative advantage The ability of an individual, a firm, or a country to produce a good or service at a lower opportunity cost than competitors.
Table 2-2
Opportunity Costs of Picking Apples and Cherries 16
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17. Comparative Advantage and Trade
Learning Objective 2.2
Comparative Advantage and Trade
Comparative Advantage and the Gains from Trade
The basis for trade is comparative advantage, not absolute advantage.
Individuals, firms, and countries are better off if they specialize in producing goods and services for which they have a comparative advantage and obtain the other goods and services they need by trading. 17
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18. Solved Problem 2-2 Learning Objective 2.2
Comparative Advantage and the Gains from Trade 18
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19. Solved Problem 2-2 Learning Objective 2.2
Comparative Advantage and the Gains from Trade (continued) 19
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20. Quiz 2

21. Learning Objective 2.3
The Market System
Market A group of buyers and sellers of a good or service and the institution or arrangement by which they come together to trade.
Product markets Markets for goods—such as computers—and services—such as medical treatment.
Factor markets Markets for the factors of production, such as labor, capital, natural resources, and entrepreneurial ability.
Factors of production The inputs used to make goods and services. 21
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22. Learning Objective 2.3
The Market System
Factors of production are divided into four broad categories:
Labor includes all types of work, from the part-time labor of teenagers working at McDonald’s to the work of top managers in large corporations.
Capital refers to physical capital, such as computers and machine tools, that is used to produce other goods.
Natural resources include land, water, oil, iron ore, and other raw materials (or “gifts of nature”) that are used in producing goods.
An entrepreneur is someone who operates a business. Entrepreneurial ability is the ability to bring together the other factors of production to successfully produce and sell goods and services. 22
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23. The Market System The Circular Flow of Income
Learning Objective 2.3
The Market System
The Circular Flow of Income
Two key groups participate in markets:
A household consists of all the individuals in a home.
Firms are suppliers of goods and services.
Circular-flow diagram A model that illustrates how participants in markets are linked. 23
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24. The Market System The Circular Flow of Income Learning Objective 2.3
FIGURE 2-6
The Circular-Flow Diagram 24
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25. The Market System The Gains from Free Markets
Learning Objective 2.3
The Market System
The Gains from Free Markets
Free market A market with few government restrictions on how a good or service can be produced or sold or on how a factor of production can be employed. 25
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26. The Market System The Market Mechanism
Learning Objective 2.3
The Market System
The Market Mechanism
Individuals usually act in a rational, self- interested way. Adam Smith understood that people’s motives can be complex.
In a famous phrase, Smith said that firms would be led by the “invisible hand” of the market to provide consumers with what they wanted. 26
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27. A Story of the Market System in Action: How Do You Make an iPod?
Learning Objective 2.3
Making the Connection
A Story of the Market System
in Action: How Do You Make an iPod?
The market coordinates the activities of the many people spread around the world who contribute to the making of an iPod. 27
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28. The Market System The Role of the Entrepreneur
Learning Objective 2.3
The Market System
The Role of the Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Someone who operates a business, bringing together the factors of production—labor, capital, and natural resources—to produce goods and services. 28
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29. The Market System The Legal Basis of a Successful Market System
Learning Objective 2.3
The Market System
The Legal Basis of a Successful Market System
Protection of Private Property
Property rights The rights individuals or firms have to the exclusive use of their property, including the right to buy or sell it.
Enforcement of Contracts and Property Rights
If property rights are not well enforced, fewer goods and services will be produced. This reduces economic efficiency, leaving the economy inside its production possibilities frontier. 29
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30. Property Rights in Cyberspace: YouTube and MySpace
Learning Objective 2.3
Making the Connection
Property Rights in Cyberspace:
YouTube and MySpace
Controlling unauthorized copying is more difficult today than it was when “copying” meant making a physical copy of a book, CD, or DVD. The popularity of YouTube and MySpace highlights the problem of unauthorized copying of videos and music. In the Arab world, The United Arab Emirates has the lowest piracy rate (35 per cent) followed by Saudi Arabia (51%) and Qatar (54%), compared with an average 58 per cent for the Middle East and Africa.
Recording artists like Nancy Ajram may worry that the copyrights for their songs are not being protected on the Internet. 30
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31. Quiz 3

32. BMW Managers Change Production Strategy
An Inside
LOOK
Egypt's car feeding industries feel the brunt of the post-revolution slowdown 32
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33. K e y T e r m s Absolute advantage Circular-flow diagram
Comparative advantage
Economic growth
Entrepreneur
Factor markets
Factors of production
Free market
Market
Opportunity cost
Product markets
Production possibilities frontier (PPF)
Property rights
Scarcity
Trade 33
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