What is a product that is considered the same no matter who produces it?
commodity
What is any factor that makes it difficult for a new firm to become part of a market?
barrier to entry
What is a formal organization of producers that agree to coordinate prices and production?
cartel
What is agreement among firms to divide the market, set prices, or limit production?
collusion
What are factors that cause a producer’s average cost per unit to fall as output rises?
economies of scale
What is a government- issued right to operate a business?
license
What is the removal of some government controls over a market?
deregulation
What is a monopoly created by the government?
government monopoly
What is the ability of a company to change prices and output like a monopolist?
market power
What is a market structure in which many companies sell products that are similar but not identical?
monopolistic competition
What is combining two or more companies into a single firm?
merger
What is the right to sell a good or service within an exclusive market?
franchise
What are laws that encourage competition in the market place?
antitrust laws
What is a market that runs most efficiently when one large firm supplies all of the output?
natural monopoly
What is a market structure in which a large number of firms all produce the same product?
perfect competition
What is a market dominated by a single seller?
monopoly
What are the expenses a firm must pay before it can begin to produce and sell goods?
start-up costs
What is an illegal grouping of companies that discourages competition?
trust
What is a market structure in which a few large firms dominate a market?
oligopoly
What is the division of customers into groups based on how much they will pay for a good?
price discrimination
What is a license that gives the inventor of a new product the exclusive right to sell it for a certain period of time?
patent
What is a way to attract customers through style, service, or location, but not a lower price?
nonprice competition
What is selling a product below cost to drive competitors out of the market?
predatory pricing
What is an agreement among firms to charge one price for the same good?
price fixing
What is a series of competitive price cuts that lowers the market price below the cost of production?
price war