Macroecon Part 1

A situation of being unable to meet the minimum levels of income, food, clothing, health care, shelter, and other essentials.

An economy in which production is mainly for personal consumption and the standard of living yields little more than basic necessities of life—food, shelter, and clothing

The process of improving the quality of all human lives and capabilities by raising people’s levels of living, self-esteem, and freedom.

Countries of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union that are presently characterized by low levels of living and other development deficits. Used in the development literature as a synonym for less developed countries

An approach to economics that emphasizes utility, profit maximization, market efficiency, and determination of equilibrium.

The attempt to merge economic analysis with practical politics to view economic activity in its political context.

The study of how economies are transformed from stagnation to growth and from low income to high-income status, and overcome problems of absolute poverty.

The now economically advanced capitalist countries of western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

synonym for developing countries

The increasing integration of national economies into expanding international markets.

The organizational and institutional structure of a society, including its values, attitudes, power structure, and traditions.

Principles, standards, or qualities that a society or groups within it considers worthwhile or desirable

The states of mind or feelings of an individual, group, or society regarding issues such as material gain, hard work, saving for the future, and sharing wealth.

Norms, rules of conduct, and generally accepted ways of doing things. Economic institutions are humanly devised constraints that shape human interactions, including both informal and formal “rules of the game” of economic life in the widely used framework of Douglass North.

Total gross national income of a country divided by its total population.

The total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country. It comprises gross domestic product (GDP)plus factor incomes accruing to residents from abroad, less the income earned in the domestic economy accruing to persons abroad.

The total final output of goods and services produced by the country’s economy, within the country’s territory, by residents and nonresidents, regardless of its allocation between domestic and foreign claims.

What people do or can do with the commodities of given characteristics that they come to possess or control.

The freedoms that people have, given their personal features and their command over commodities.

The basic goods and services, such as food, clothing, and shelter, that are necessary to sustain an average human being at the bare minimum level of living

The feeling of worthiness that a society enjoys when its social, political, and economic systems and institutions promote human values such as respect, dignity, integrity, and self-determination.

A situation in which a society has at its disposal a variety of alternatives from which to satisfy its wants and individuals enjoy real choices according to their preferences.

A set of eight goals adopted by the United Nations in 2000: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development. The goals are assigned specific targets to be achieved by 2015.

A subset (part) of an economy, with four usages in economic development: technology (modern and traditional sectors); activity (industry or product sectors); trade (export sector); and sphere (private and public sectors)

An organization known as an “international financial institution” that provides development funds to developing countries in the form of interest-bearing loans, grants, and technical assistance.

In the World Bank classification, countries with a GNI per capita of less than $1,025 in 2011.

In the World Bank classification, countries with a GNI per capita between $1,025 and $12,475 in 2011

Countries at a relatively advanced level of economic development with a substantial and dynamic industrial sector and with close links to the international trade, finance, and investment system.

A UN designation of countries with low income, low human capital, and high economic vulnerability.

Productive investments in people, such as skills, values, and health resulting from expenditures on education, on-the-job training programs, and medical care.

The total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP) plus factor incomes earned by foreign residents, minus income earned in the domestic economy by nonresidents.

The portion of a product’s final value that is added at each stage of production.

The wearing out of equipment, buildings, infrastructure, and other forms of capital, reflected in write-offs to the value of the capital stock.

The total amount of physical goods existing at a particular time that have been produced for use in the production of other goods and services.

The total final output of goods and services produced by the country’s economy within the country’s territory by residents and nonresidents, regardless of its allocation between domestic and foreign claims.

Calculation of GNI using a common set of international prices for all goods and services, to provide more accurate comparisons of living standards.

An index measuring national socioeconomic development, based on combining measures of education, health, and adjusted real income per capita

The concept that the subjective value of additional consumption lessens as total consumption becomes higher

The number of children born alive each year per 1,000 population.

The proportion of the total population aged 0 to 15 and 65+, which is considered economically unproductive and therefore not counted in the labor force.

ethnic, linguistic, and other social divisions within a country.

A nation’s supply of usable factors of production, including mineral deposits, raw materials, and labor.

that enable economic activity and markets, such as transportation, communication and distribution networks, utilities, water, sewer, and energy supply

A market in which the theoretical assumptions of perfect competition are violated by the existence of, for example, a small number of buyers and sellers, barriers to entry, and incomplete information.

The absence of information that producers and consumers need to make efficient decisions resulting in underperforming markets.

The acknowledged right to use and benefit from a tangible (e.g., land) or intangible (e.g., intellectual) entity that may include owning, using, deriving income from, selling, and disposing.

The emigration of highly educated and skilled professionals and technicians from the developing countries to the developed world.

Trade in which goods can be imported and exported without any barriers in the forms of tariffs, quotas, or other restrictions.

The ratio of a country’s average export price to its average import price.

Scientific investigation with a view toward improving the existing quality of human life, products, profits, factors of production, or knowledge.

A tendency for per capita income (or output) to grow faster in higher-income countries than in lower-income countries so that the income gap widens across countries over time (as was seen in the two centuries after industrialization began).

The tendency for per capita income (or output) to grow faster in lower-income countries than in higher-income countries so that lower-income countries are “catching up” over time. When countries are hypothesized to converge not in all cases but other things being equal (particularly savings rates, labor force growth, and production technologies), then the term conditional convergence is used.

“Humanly devised” constraints that shape interactions (or “rules of the game”) in an economy, including formal rules embodied in constitutions, laws, contracts, and market regulations, plus informal rules reflected in norms of behavior and conduct, values, customs, and generally accepted ways of doing things.