ECON-2302 FINAL
What is meant by monopolistic competition?
Many firms competing to sell similar but differentiated products.
Which of the following characteristics relate to monopolistic competition?
Many firms competing to sell similar but differentiated products.
Which of the following is the best example of a tariff?
a $1000-per-car fee imposed on all small cars imported
How do apple growers react to the news of medical research findings that suggest that eating apples leads to greater health benefits than were previously known?
They increase the quantity of apples supplied.
Colombia produces coffee with less labor and land than any other country; it therefore necessarily has:
an absolute advantage in coffee production
The US laws dealing with original works of authorship allow the US Copyright Office to enforce protection for all but one of the following. Which one is it?
ancient Bible texts
Refer to the diagram above. What is the significance of the point marked L1 at the bottom upward-sloping portion of the individual labor supply (2) curve?
as wages increase over this range, the quantity of hours worked also increases.
How does the cost of financial capital influence innovative research and development activities in a competitive market?
at a low cost, firms demand a large quantity, as R&D projects will likely return a higher rate.
If the average product for six workers is fifteen and the marginal product of the seventh worker is eighteen, then
average product is rising.
The _____________________ curve will always lie below the curve for average cost because average cost includes ___________ in the numerator of the calculation.
average variable cost; fixed costs
I'MABigCorp. produces and sells medical imaging products. In order to determine its potential total revenue in the US market, analysts considered both the price of the company's products and quantity that could be produced. Which of the following must also be determined to complete this analysis?
demand for its products and the number of other firms selling similar or identical products
Which of the following would some economists be likely to perceive as the most appropriate public policy response to a positive externality created by the development of a highly innovative new technology?
develop ways to provide a greater share of the social benefits to the innovator
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of capitalism?
central planning
The US government Strongly encouraged unions to be formed in the early 1940s because they held the view that unions would help to
co-ordinate the all-out production efforts needed during World War II.
When nations increase production in their area of _________________ and trade with each other, both sides can benefit.
comparative advantage
Which of the following is a reason the Supreme Court was asked to rule on various provisions and interpretations of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002?
conflicts with the free speech provisions of the U.S. Constitution
The term Giffen good refers to a theoretical possibility that a higher price for a good could lead to a ____________________, or that a lower price leads to a _______________________.
higher quantity demanded; lesser quantity demanded
During the U.S. stock market collapse of 2007, Paula's financial advisor recommended that she invest in a number of pharmaceutical companies while their stock values were down considerably. He expected these companies to maintain high dividend yields, making them attractive to investors. If Paula follows her financial advisor's recommendations, she is
following fundamental trading advice.
Which of the following best describes a monetary policy tool?
interest rates
The City of Washington needs to upgrade its levies and its water drainage systems. The cost will exceed the amount of tax revenue the City expects to receive over the next 10 years. How will the City be able to raise the funds needed to finance this upgrade?
issue municipal bonds
Why has there been a shift away from the traditional fee-for-service structure in the U.S. health care?
reduces incentives and moral hazards of added services to increase income
The slope of the production possibility frontier is determined by the ________________ of expanding production of one good, measured by how much of the other good would be lost.
opportunity cost
The underlying reason why trade benefits both sides of a trading arrangement is rooted in the concept of __________________.
opportunity cost
Roughly speaking, patent law covers __________ and __________ law protects an author's original books.
original inventive creations; copyright
In the U.S., why is figuring out a way of strengthening people's feeling of connectedness to society still an issue of importance?
other proposals offered have failed to substantially increase voter turnout
Marcella operates a small, but very successful art gallery. All but one of the following can be classified as a variable cost arising from the physical inputs Marcella requires to operate her business. Which is it?
physical space for the gallery
When a business adopts a strategy of reducing and/or discontinuing production in response to a sustained pattern of losses, it is
preparing to exit operations.
If a perfectly competitive firm is a price taker, then
pressure from competing firms will force acceptance of the prevailing market price.
Which of the following is not one of the proposals that have been offered to encourage greater voter turnout?
tax incentives for active voters
As the __________ substitute for low-skill labor becomes available, the demand curve for low-skill labor will shift to the left.
technology
If the demand curve for a life-saving medicine is perfectly inelastic, a reduction in supply will cause the equilibrium price to:
rise and the equilibrium quantity to stay the same.
What is meant by comparative advantage?
the goods in which a nation has its greatest productivity advantage or its smallest productivity disadvantage; also, the goods that a nation can produce at a lower cost when measured in terms of opportunity cost
Medicaid is a federal-state joint program enacted in 1965 that provides medical insurance for
the near-poor and the low-income elderly.
Price elasticity of demand is defined as:
the percentage change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage change in price.
In the United States, which of the following would be most likely to participate in an election by informing themselves and casting their vote?
the employed
If an industry is perfectly competitive or monopolistically competitive, then the government has relatively little reason for concern about
the extent of competition.
When the demand for a good or service limits the quantity that can be sold to an output at which the firm experiences economies of scale,
the firm is a natural monopoly.
If the firm is producing at a quantity of output where marginal revenue exceeds marginal cost, then,
the firm should keep expanding production.
Which of the following is viewed as a fundamental building block of the US economic way of thinking?
the principle that a system of voluntary exchange benefits both parties
If a rise in incomes is the same proportion for both low-income and high-income workers,
then poverty will fall and inequality will remain unchanged.
If a rise in incomes for both low-income and high-income workers is higher for the high-income workers,
then poverty will fall and inequality will rise.
If the income level falls for low-income workers, but remains unchanged for high-income workers,
then poverty will rise and inequality will rise.
Which of the following applies to the Giffen good theory?
theoretically unrealistic possibility
The opportunity cost of producing a pair of pants in the USA is 5 bushels of wheat, while in China, it is 2 bushels of wheat. As a result:
there can be mutual gains from trade to the two countries if the USA exports wheat to China in exchange for pants.
A 25 percent decrease in the price of breakfast cereal leads to a 20 percent increase in the quantity of cereal demanded. As a result:
total revenue will decrease.
If a paper mill shuts down its operations for three months so that it produces nothing, its __________________ will be reduced to zero?
variable costs
In a free market economy, firms operating in a perfectly competitive industry are said to have only one major choice to make. Which of the following correctly sets out that choice?
what quantity to produce
Which of the following characteristics relate to inequality?
when one group receives a higher share of total income or wealth than others
Robert is a widower raising 5 year old twin boys. In 2013, after the plant where he had worked for 10 years shut down, he was able to obtain part-time work that paid him $13,000.00 a year. He receives the earned income tax credit. If Robert receives a raise, so that he will earn $16,350, the earned income credit will be
will not be reduced.
Refer to Figure 7-1. With reference to Graph A, at a price of $10, total revenue equals:
$400.
What term is used to describe when one nation can produce a product at lower cost relative to another nation?
Absolute advantage
Which of the following characteristics relate to normal good?
A good for which the quantity demanded rises when income rises.
A complementary approach to supporting R&D that does not involve the government's close scrutiny of particular R&D projects is to give firms
A reduction in corporate taxes based on amount of R&D performed
Refer to Figure 2-1. An economy is operating at full employment, and then workers in the bread industry are laid off. This change is portrayed in the movement from:
C to F
Firms operating under cost-plus regulation have an incentive to generate high costs by building huge factories or employing lots of staff
Because what they can charge is linked to the costs they incur
Which of the following characteristics best relate to corporate bonds?
Bonds issued by firms that wish to borrow.
Which of the following refers to when firms act together to reduce output and keep prices high?
Collusion
How would a sustained increase in the market price of its shares directly benefit a publically traded company?
It could sell any shares it owns in itself at the higher valuation.
A government program guarantees $18,000 in income, even for those who do not work at all. If all the recipient earns income by working, then the $18,000 benefit is reduced by 50 cents for each $1 earned. Will this program eliminate the poverty trap?
No, enacting such a program may still reduce the incentive to work
What term is used to describe all the ways a nation can draw up rules, regulations, inspections, and paperwork to make it more costly or difficult to import products?
Nontariff barriers
What name is given to goods where the quantity demanded rises as income rises?
Normal goods
Which of the following refers to the elasticity calculated from the appropriate formula has an absolute value greater than 1?
Elastic
What name is given to the long-run process of firms beginning and expanding production when they see opportunity for profits?
Entry
Which of the following characteristics relate to dumping?
Selling internationally traded goods below their cost of production.
The concept of a poverty line raises a number of complex questions. Which of the following represents such a question?
Should the national poverty line be applied in all states?
What act was passed to allow American workers to opt out of the union in their workplace?
Taft-Hartley Act of 1947
What is meant by initial public offering (IPO)?
When a firm first sells shares of stock to outside investors.
What is meant by copayment?
When an insurance policyholder must pay a small amount for each service, before insurance covers the rest.
What is meant by surplus?
When at the existing price, quantity supplied exceeds the quantity demanded.
What is meant by increasing returns to scale?
When the average cost of producing each individual unit declines as total output increases.
Which of the following is a question economists have struggled to address with only partial success?
Whether a market-oriented economy produces the optimal amount of variety?
If the government altered it's invention patent policy from a monopolistic policy to a competitive policy, then consumers
Would benefit from the lower price and greater quantity sold.
Which of the following best denotes the reason for the existence of substantial black markets?
a command economy
What is meant by producer surplus?
The benefit producers receive from selling a good or service, measured by the price the producer actually received minus the price the producer would have been willing to accept.
What is meant by law of supply?
The common relationship that a higher price is associated with a greater quantity supplied.
If the level of incomes rises for high-income workers but doesn't change for low-income workers,
Then poverty will not change and inequality will rise
An _________________ is calculated by subtracting the firm's costs from its total revenues, _______________________________.
accounting profit; excluding opportunity cost
Which of the following characteristics relate to decreasing returns to scale?
A situation in which as the quantity of output rises, the average cost of production rises.
In the 2012 elections for president, Congress, and a number of state and local offices, a total of about _______ was spent on the election campaigns, including advertising, fundraising, travel, and staff.
$7 billion
By 1900, average life expectancy in the United States at birth was _______. By the start of the 21st-century, US life expectancy was 77 years.
47 years
When entry occurs in a monopolistically competitive industry,
???
Which of the following characteristics relate to price ceiling?
A law that prevents a price from rising above a certain level.
What is meant by certificate of deposit (CD)?
A mechanism for a saver to deposit funds at a bank and promise to leave them at the bank for a time, in exchange for a higher rate of interest.
Marginal utility can
be positive, negative, or zero
Which of the following would legally qualify you to be registered as a shareholder of Microsoft Corporation?
buying the stock on the New York Stock Exchange
What American economist wrote "An Economic Theory of Democracy" in which it is stated: "It seems probable that for a great many citizens in a democracy, rational behavior excludes any investment whatever in political information per se."
Anthony Downs
What term is used to describe laws that block imports sold below the cost of production and impose tariffs that would increase the price of these imports to reflect their cost of production?
Anti-dumping laws
In the US, the command-and-control environmental laws of the early 1970s, together with the ensuing amendments and updates that have been made to them over time,
Are given considerable credit for cleaner air and water in recent decades
The US federal trade commission justifies their record of approval of most mergers by asserting that, even though competition is diminished by consolidating two firms into one, mergers actually benefit
competition and consumers by allowing firms to operate more efficiently.
In economics, labor demand is synonymous with
derived demand
Substitution and income effects of a change in price of a good may be used to explain thh
direct relationship between income and demand.
If the supply curve for housing is perfectly inelastic, a reduction in demand will cause the equilibrium price to:
fall and the equilibrium quantity to stay the same.
The branch of mathematics that analyzes situations in which players must make decisions and then receive payoffs most often used by economists is
game theory.
Of all the available policies to reduce discrimination by race and gender, the most costly is likely to be:
improved educational opportunities
A new American import quota on imported steel would be likely to:
increase American production of steel.
If a website facilitates the sale of goods by individuals and businesses over the internet, but requires actual photos of every item for sale to be posted instead of a manufacturer's stock picture of the product, demand and supply of products in good condition will shift due to the improved information. If the quantity demanded shifts by more than supply, quantity will likely ___________ and price will likely ___________.
increase, increase
The _________________ budget constraint shows the tradeoff between present and future consumption.
intertemporal choice
The step-by-step process of finding the choice with highest total utility involves a comparison of the
marginal utility gained and lost from different choices along the budget constraint.
The basic difference between macroeconomics and microeconomics is:
microeconomics concentrates on the behaviour of individual consumers and firms while macroeconomics focuses on the performance of the entire economy.
Some studies done by economists have found that the original inventor receives _________________________________________________ from innovations, while other businesses and new product users receive the rest of the benefit.
one-third to one-half of the total economic benefits
In many cases, it is reasonable to refer to the ________________ as the price.
opportunity cost
In a monopolistically competitive market, the rule for maximizing profit is to set MR = MC, which means
price is higher than marginal revenue.
If the quality differences of similar products are mostly imperceptible to the average consumer's eyes, which of the following will most likely play a major role in influencing the decisions of purchasers?
price of competing products
Which of the following characteristics differentiates the private economy from government?
self-correcting mechanism
Which of the following best identifies what the concept of differentiated products is closely related to?
the degree of product variety that is available.
If a government wants to establish a marketable permit program it must begin by determining
the overall quantity of a certain pollutant that will be allowed.
If Congress voted every few years to redefine completely what poverty means,
then it would be difficult to compare poverty rates over time.
If incomes rise for both low-income and high-income workers, but rise less for the high-income workers,
then poverty will fall and inequality will fall.
Laws that impose an upper limit on the interest rate that lenders can charge are known as:
usury laws
If labor demand is downward sloping and labor supply is upward sloping, then when labor demand rises faster than labor supply, it is expected that real wages ____.
will increase
Which of the following characteristics relate to pollution charge?
A tax imposed on the quantity of pollution that a firm emits.
When one nation can produce a product at lower cost relative to another nation.
Absolute Advantage
What term is used to describe a financial contract through which a borrower like a corporation, a city or state, or the federal government agrees to repay the amount that was borrowed and also a rate of interest over a period of time in the future?
Bond
Which of the following would be classified as a situation where a third-party benefits from a market transaction by others?
City buying 10,000 trees for green space renewal projects.
What term is used to describe when an insurance policyholder pays a percentage of a loss, and the insurance company pays the remaining cost?
Coinsurance
Because attempting to define a particular market can be difficult and controversial the federal trade commission has begun to look less at market share and more at the data on actual
Competition between businesses
Which of the following characteristics relate to imperfect competition?
Competition that does not fit the definition of perfect competition either because it involves a smaller number of firms or only one firm, or products that aren't identical.
If I'MSmartCo's Research and development projects succeeds, then
Competitors may find A way to adapt and copy the underlying idea without incurring R&D costs
In ____________________, when there is no president race, the voter turnout is typically ___________________________.
Congressional elections; less than half of the eligible voters
What term is used to describe when regulators permit a regulated firm to cover its cost and to make a normal level of profit?
Cost-plus regulation
Which of the following characteristics relate to variable costs?
Costs of production that increase with the quantity produced.
Which of the following characteristics relate to sunk cost?
Costs that were incurred in the past and cannot be recovered, and thus should not affect current decisions.
If a small electric automobile manufacturer is able to gain the social return generated by its electric motor, It's demand for financial capital would
Shift to the left
Which of the following is credited with having once written: "No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise"?
Sir Winston Churchill
_________________ are more likely to arise from a group that is easily identifiable, rather than from a group where some of those who suffered may not even recognize that _____________________________.
Special interests; they are bearing the costs
Which of the following refers to when many of the different stages of producing a good happen in different geographic locations?
Splitting up the value chain
Which of the following refers to when a price changes, consumers have an incentive to consume less of the good with a relatively higher price and more of the good with a relatively lower price?
Substitution effect
Which of the following characteristics relate to equilibrium?
The combination of price and quantity where there is no economic pressure from surpluses or shortages that would cause price or quantity to shift.
What is meant by law of demand?
The common relationship that a higher price leads to a lower quantity demanded of a certain good or service.
What term is used to describes the stipulation that a nation should not depend too heavily on other countries for supplies of certain key products?
The national interest argument
What is meant by productive efficiency?
When it is impossible to produce more of one good without decreasing the quantity produced of another good.
Which of the following characteristics relate to cosigner?
On a loan, another person or firm that legally pledges to repay some or all of the money if the original borrower does not do so.
In the closing decades of the 19th century, many industries in the US economy were dominated by a single firm that had most of the sales for the entire country. In many cases these large firms were
Organized in the legal form of a trust
According to the textbook, which sector was the largest funding source to US research and development expenditures in 2009?
Industry
What was created by the US government in 1914 to specifically define what types of competition were legally unfair?
Federal trade commission
With respect to the benefits of clean air and water, which Of the following would most likely be classified as being relatively easy to value in economic terms?
Gains in farming, fishing and tourism
One strategy insurance companies have adopted to reduce moral hazard is to require an injured party to pay a _______________.
a deductible
What is meant by cartel?
a group of firms that collude to produce the monopoly output and sell at the monopoly price
Which of the following is the best example of a quota?
a limit imposed on the number of men's suits that can be imported from a foreign country
While the traditional approach of U.S. government policies for environmental protection has had some level of success, some economists are proposing a change to
a range of more flexible, market-oriented pollution control policies.
Which one of the following is the most accurate description of a monopolist?
a sole producer of a product for which good substitutes are lacking in a market with high barriers to entry
In the U.S. political arena, ______________________ may tend to emphasize the virtues of markets and the limitations of government, while _________ may tend to emphasize the shortcomings of markets and the need for government programs.
conservatives; liberals
How has the widespread adoption of debit cards as the preferred method of payment for consumer purchases likely affected bank administration costs?
costs are reduced because the cost of purchase is immediately debited from purchaser's checking account
Which of the following refers to when a few firms have all or nearly all of the sales in an industry?
Oligopoly
In economic terms, when I'mASoftwareCo. invests in new technology innovations,
Positive externalities arise
What name is given to rise in the overall level of prices?
Price inflation
The long-term result of entry and exit in a perfectly competitive market is that all firms end up selling at the price level determined by the lowest point on the
average cost curve.
Which of the following is not an ironclad rule in the financial markets?
banks fund small business loans and large firms issue bonds to raise money
Which of the following is a key requirement imposed under the welfare reform acts new anti-poverty program?
States receiving TANF grants must impose work or school attendance requirements
The term "ceteris paribus" means that:
all variables except those specified are constant.
Which of the following refers to an economy in which most economic decisions are made by buyers and sellers, who may be individuals or firms?
Market-oriented economy
In the first chapter of The Wealth of Nations, Smith introduces the idea of the __________, which means the way in which the work required to produce a good or service is divided into a number of tasks that are performed by different workers.
division of labor
According to the definition of profit, if a profit-maximizing firm will always attempt to produce its desired level of output at the lowest possible cost, then it will
do so regardless of what type of competition exists in a market.
The infant industry argument for protectionism suggests that an industry must be protected in the early stages of its development so that:
domestic producers can attain the economies of scale to allow them to compete in world markets.
A problem may arise when politicians are elected by the votes of 60% or less of the population, because these politicians may not enact
economic policy in the best interests of 100% of the population.
The concept of __________________, means that as the measure of output goes up, average costs of production decline—at least up to a point.
economies of scale
The property rights approach to environmental issues often becomes highly relevant in cases involving
endangered species
If the North American newsprint paper market has barriers to entry, then
entry will be blocked even if firms are earning high profits.
Which of the following is generally accepted as a valid criticism of the production of useful goods and services?
environmental pollution
How can parties who find themselves in a prisoner's dilemma situation avoid the undesired outcome and cooperate with each other?
find effective ways to penalize firms who do not cooperate
If a firm's efforts to be technologically innovative will create a positive externality, then that firm will likely
have less incentive to innovate to the extent that the whole of society desires.
The price elasticity of demand for tickets to local baseball games is estimated to be equal to 0.89. In order to boost ticket revenues, an economist would advise:
increasing the price of game tickets because demand is inelastic.
In the US, comparisons of high and low incomes raise issues of economic __________________.
inequality and poverty
In Canada, voters typically choose between three or more candidates in an election, which can lead to situations where
it becomes impossible for the majority to decide who it prefers.
Intra-industry trade between similar trading partners allows the gains from ______________________ that arise when firms and workers specialize in the production of a certain product.
learning and innovation
Which of the following is most likely to be a monopoly?
local electricity distributor
When a natural monopoly exists in a given industry, the per-unit costs of production will be
lowest when a single firm generates the entire output of the industry.
Which of the following is an oversimplified term that is sometimes used to describe the meaning of democracy?
majority rule
In economics, the term "shutdown point" refers to the point where the
marginal cost curve crosses the average variable cost curve.
Refer to the table below. In this instance, confirmation that this firm is operating in a perfectly competitive market can readily be ascertained by the fact that its
marginal revenue is constant
Which of the following would be the most beneficial to an internet retailer?
money-back guarantee combined with a reputation for quality
Many economists believe that the trend toward greater wage inequality across the U.S. economy was primarily caused by _____________.
new technologies
If monopolistic competitors must expect a process of entry and exit like perfectly competitive firms,
they will be unable to earn higher-than-normal profits in the long run.
XYZ Corporation plans to open a manufacturing plant in China, but the company has not retained any of its yearly profits for this purpose. How will XYZ Corporation likely raise the money to finance its offshore expansion?
sale of bonds to institutional investors
Market competition may sometimes encourage a firm to innovate out of fear because of the perception that
they will inevitably fall behind other competitors seeking out innovations.
In the highly competitive setting in which oligopoly firms operate, which of the following are considered to be typical temptations each may face?
to cooperate to act as a single monopoly and all of the above
Which of the following would most likely be identified as being the ultimate goal of public policies that pertain to technology?
to encourage a stream of invention that benefits the whole of society.
When a firm pursues a predatory pricing strategy, it does so
to maximize profits in the long run.
Why would a profit-seeking firm need to tailor its decisions about the quantity of labor inputs that it purchases?
to produce the highest profitable quantity of output at the lowest possible marginal cost
The typical pattern revealed in a budget constraint model shows that as the quantity consumed rises
total utility rises, but marginal utility falls.
The marginal cost curve is generally ______________, because diminishing marginal returns implies that additional units are ________________________.
upward-sloping; more costly to produce
Which of the following represents one of the methods that the government uses to promote technology?
protection of intellectual property
Splitting up a the natural monopoly held by a public utility that produces and provides electricity would
raise the average cost of production and force consumers to pay more.
The typical slope of the demand curve as perceived by a monopolistic competitor will
reflect that firm's ability raise its price without losing all of its customers.
In choosing between the range of alternative investments typically available to U.S. households, which of the following will play a role in influencing their selection of a particular investment type?
the interest rate and the expected rate of return
Under which of the following government programs would the federal government's welfare spending rise or fall depending on the number of poor people, and on how each state set it's own welfare contribution?
TNAF
If a for profit firm that has paid out record bonuses to its executive every year while underfunding contributions to unionized workers' pensions required under the collective agreement then attempts to reduce workers' pension entitlements, the union members will most likely
Take defensive strike action.
What is meant by marginal revenue product?
The additional revenue gained from selling one more unit.
What is meant by microeconomics?
The branch of economics that focuses on actions of particular actors within the economy, like households, workers, and business firms.
.Which of the following characteristics relate to utility?
The level of satisfaction or pleasure that people receive from their choices
A beekeeper decides to locate her business on a plot of land that is between an apple orchard and an elementary school. A negative externality that can result is
The possibility of bees stinging the students at the school
In a perfectly competitive market setting, which of the following would be a true statement?
Wage rates trend toward marginal revenue product levels.
Which of the following characteristics relate to externality?
When a market exchange affects a third party who is outside to the exchange
The U.S. economy is best described as
a mixed economy
The supply curve of textbooks (which are produced using paper made from trees) will shift to the left in response to:
a sharp increase in the demand for and construction of wood-frame homes.
What is meant by negative externality?
a situation where a third party, outside the transaction, suffers from a market transaction by others
Any given demand or supply curve is based on the ceteris paribus assumption that ___________________.
all else is held equal
Changes in weather patterns are increasing administrative costs for insurance companies. These added costs often exceed the amount of the premiums coming in and claim payments going out. To address this problem, insurance companies typically
build up the amount of their reserves.
Martha has decided to purchase a new home constructed by Crown Builders. In addition to Crown Builder's good reputation in the industry, which of the following likely influenced Martha's decision to purchase a new home?
builder's no-charge service contract covering first year
Marginal thinking is best demonstrated by:
choosing to spend one more hour studying economics because you think the improvement in your score on the next quiz will be worth the sacrifice of time.
Economic models like the _____________________ are not physical models, but instead are diagrams or graphs or even mathematical equations that represent economic patterns or theories.
circular flow diagram
Refer to the table below. In this instance, expansion of output
causes input prices to rise as demand for inputs increases.
If a monopoly or a monopolistic competitor raises their prices, then
decline in quantity demanded will be larger for the monopolistic competitor.
The two primary factors determining monopoly market power are the firm's
demand curve and its cost structure
Currently, the approach to antitrust regulation involves
detailed analysis of specific markets and companies.
If a solar panel manufacturer wants to look at its total costs of production in the short run, which of the following would provide a useful starting point?
divide total costs into two categories: fixed costs that can't be changed in the short run and variable costs that can be
Which of the following is most likely to cause variation in American household spending patterns?
each of the above will cause a variation
In a command economy, the __________ either makes most economic decisions itself or at least strongly influences how the decisions are made.
government
Alternate Outputs from One Day's Labor Input:USA: 12 bushels of wheat or 3 yards of textiles.India: 3 bushels of wheat or 12 yards of textiles.From the data, the USA
has an absolute advantage over India in the production of wheat.
Which of the following would an economist identify as a difficulty relating to environmental command-control regulations?
high degree of inflexibility
According to international trade theory, a country should:
import goods in which it has a comparative disadvantage.
The term _____________ describes a situation where a ________________ causes a reduction in the buying power of income, even though actual income has not changed.
income effect; higher price
When economists attempt to predict the spending patterns of U.S. households, they will typically view the _____________________ as a primary determining factor that influences the individual consumption choices that each will make.
income level of each household
If the demand curve is perfectly elastic, then an increase in supply will:
increase the quantity exchanged but result in no change in the price.
Improvements in the productivity of labor will tend to:
increase wages.
If a website facilitates the sale of goods by individuals and businesses over the internet, but requires actual photos of every item for sale to be posted instead of a manufacturer's stock picture of the product, the supply of products in good condition will likely __________ due to the improved information, causing price to __________.
increase, decrease
If the demand for software engineers ____ slower than does supply, wages of software engineers will ____.
increases; fall
"Tariffs and other trade restrictions increase the domestic scarcity of products from abroad. Such policies benefit domestic producers of the restricted products at the expense of domestic consumers." This statement:
is essentially correct.
From a competitive firms' point of view, the key question regarding the higher wages paid to union workers is whether the higher wage level
is matched with higher productivity.
If a steel manufacturer considers the costs of labor and materials, as well as the broader costs of environmental injuries resulting from its manufacturing processes,
it is factoring in the social costs of the pollution it generates.
In the ____________, households work and receive payment from firms.
labor market
Other things being equal, a _______ supply of workers tends to ____ real wages.
larger; decrease
A natural monopoly occurs when the quantity demanded is ________ the minimum quantity it takes to be at the bottom of the long-run average cost curve.
less than
Economists would say tariffs:
limit voluntary exchanges.
The perceived demand curve for a group of competing oligopoly firms will appear kinked as a result of their commitment to
match price cuts, but not price increases.
The idea behind comparative advantage reflects the possibility that one party
may be able to produce something at a lower opportunity cost than another party.
Which of the following typically leads to two formerly separate firms being under common ownership?
mergers and acquisitions
A price floor that makes it illegal for an employer to pay employees less than a certain hourly rate is known as:
minimum wage
"Natural resources" does NOT include
money
Shopping malls typically lease retail space to a large number of clothing stores. When this group of retailers competes to sell similar but not identical products, they engage in what economists call ________________________.
monopolistic competition
Why would a large publically traded corporation likely prefer issuing bonds as a way to raise new money as opposed to issuing more shares?
more shares will dilute the existing value of the stock, causing its market price to fall
What do an optician and a lawyer share in common?
need for a valid occupational license from government regulators
What happens in a perfectly competitive industry when economic profit is greater than zero?
new firms may enter the industry and all of the above
Unions can be perceived as being economically harmful when they
none of the above
Which of the following refers to a good where, when one person uses the good, others can also use it?
nonrivalrous
Philosophers draw a distinction between positive statements, which describe the world as it is, and ___________________, which describe how the world should be.
normative statements
Ryan lives in Iowa and is completing his fourth year of electrician apprenticeship training. After achieving journeyman status, what will Ryan require from his state government in order to practice his trade?
occupational license
In monopolistic competition, the end result of entry and exist is that firms end up with a price that lies
on the downward-sloping portion of the average cost curve.
Jay and Jen are married with two children. They are preparing a household budget for the coming year. Based on statistical information for American households, what portion of this family's annual consumption will most likely be budgeted for food and vehicle expenses?
one-third
Attending college is a case where the ________________ exceeds the monetary cost.
opportunity cost
Following the assumption that firms maximize profits, how will the price and output policy of an unregulated monopolist compare with ideal market efficiency?
output will be too small and its price too high.
Which of the following will provide an investor with a legally valid claim of partial ownership of a firm?
ownership of stock
When exit occurs in a monopolistically competitive industry the
perceived demand and marginal revenue curves will shift to the right.
In contrast to goods and services markets, _____________ are rare in labor markets, because rules that prevent people from earning income are not politically popular.
price ceilings
As a general rule, utility-maximizing choices between consumption goods occur where the
price ratio and marginal utilities ratio of two goods is equal.
For a positive externality, _________________________ than the social benefits.
private benefits of an action are less
Why would labor be treated as a variable cost?
producing larger quantities of a good or service generally requires more workers
A monopolist is able to maximize its profits by
producing output where MR = MC and charging a price along the demand curve.
A straightforward example of a _______________, often used for simplicity, is the interest rate.
rate of return
The chef at a high-end French cuisine restaurant has accepted a job on a cruise liner. The restaurant owner must advertise for a replacement chef, but is concerned about reducing the amount of imperfect information respondents to the career ad will provide. This concern can best be addressed by
requiring current resumes and recommendations.
Why are politicians more likely to focus their political actions on individuals with higher incomes and higher levels of education?
research shows this group has greater informed voter participation
The first step to be undertaken by a profit-maximizing monopolistic competitor wanting to decide what price to charge is to
select the profit maximizing quantity to produce
A more efficient means of processing algae to produce an anticancer drug is discovered. As a result, the supply curve for the drug will:
shift to the right, decreasing the price of the drug
Some nations that seek to produce all of their own needs face the problem that:
some industries are too small to be efficient if restricted to their domestic markets alone.
If the supply curve for aspirin is perfectly elastic, a reduction in demand will cause the equilibrium price to:
stay the same and the equilibrium quantity to fall.
What qualities would ideally suit a monopolistic firm with regard to barriers to entry?
sufficient strength to prevent or discourage potential competitors from entering the market
Economists are able to determine total utility by:
summing up the marginal utilities of each unit consumed.
Which of the following should typically be ignored because spending has already been made and cannot be changed?
sunk costs
Which of the following belongs in the range of financial investment options available to U.S. households?
tangible assets
If it was possible for one company to gain ownership control all of the uranium processing plants in the US, then
that firm could set up barriers to entry to discourage competition.
In Sam's greenhouse operation, labor is the only short term variable input. After completing a cost analysis, if the marginal product of labor is the same for each unit of labor, this will imply that
the average product of labor is always equal to the marginal product of labor.
A beekeeper decides to locate her business on a plot of land that is between an apple orchard and an elementary school. A positive externality that can result is
the bees helping to pollinate the orchard, leading to more fruit.
Which of the following will present the least amount of concern to a firm that has a monopoly over a particular industry?
the competitive actions of other business firms
The opportunity cost of attending university is likely to include all except which of the following?
the cost of haircuts received during the school term
If buyers become reluctant to purchase high-quality goods because they can't be confident of purchasing a high-quality product, then
the equilibrium price and quantity will be adversely affected by a thin market.
Which of the following concerns would groups like the Consumer Federation of America and Public Knowledge most likely raise with regulators considering a merger application?
the merger would reduce competition
Tariffs result in a decrease in consumer surplus because:
the price of the protected good increases and quantity consumed decreases.
When consumers and businesses have greater confidence that they will be able to repay in the future, _______________________.
the quantity demanded of financial capital at any given interest rate will shift to the right.
Whenever there is a shortage at a particular price, the quantity sold at that price will equal:
the quantity supplied at that price.
If Japan does not have a comparative advantage in producing rice, the consequences of adopting a Japanese policy reducing or eliminating imports of rice into the country would include:
the real incomes of Japanese rice producers would rise, but the real incomes of Japanese rice consumers would fall.
If new manufacturers enter the computer industry, then (ceteris paribus):
the supply curve shifts to the right.
If unions help workers secure pension benefits, so that those workers are less dependent on government social assistance after their retirement, then
the union is economically beneficial.
If cola and iced tea are good substitutes for consumers, then it is likely that:
their cross price elasticities are greater than zero.
If incomes rise for low-income workers but don't change for high-income workers,
then poverty will fall and inequality will fall.
Profit-seeking firms make decisions about how much to produce in perfectly competitive industries by using a concept that analyzes all but one of the following. Which one?
???average marginal cost
Which of the following best characterizes the circular flow of income?
Businesses buy resources from households, and households use their income from the sale of resources to buy goods and services from businesses.
Which of the following has the power to allow a merger, prohibit it, or allow it if certain conditions are met?
Department of Justice
Which of the following characteristics relate to perfect competition?
Each firm faces many competitors that sell identical products.
What is meant by fiscal policy?
Economic policies that involve government spending and taxation.
Which of the following poses a difficult challenge for US competition policy?
Natural monopoly
What term is used to describe goods and services produced abroad and sold domestically?
Imports
Refer to the budget line shown in the diagram above. At point U
P1/P2 = MU1/MU2
What is meant by marginal cost?
The additional cost of producing one more unit.
What is meant by specialization?
When workers or firms focus on particular tasks in the overall production process for which they are well-suited.
If no externalities of pollution exist in a particular industry, the interaction of demand and supply
Will coordinate social costs and benefits
Although they have never been charged with a DUI, Glen and Dale often drive while intoxicated and each made 3 claims for auto accidents in 2010. If Crown Insurance decides to raise the price of insurance coverage for all its policy holders to $3,000 per year to off-set the claims of this type of driver, then its attempt to counter
adverse selection will cause the low-risk policy holders to cancel their policies.
.Refer to the diagram above. What is the significance of the point at the top of the backward bending of the supply curve marked L3?
as wages increase over this range, the quantity of hours worked actually decreases
In microeconomics, the term _____________________ is synonymous with economies of scale.
increasing returns to scale
What is meant by globalization?
the trend in which buying and selling in markets have increasingly crossed national borders
What term is used to describe a firm that faces no competitors?
Monopoly
Once the US government open it's domestic markets to international trade, the competition from imported cars, steel, and other products caused demand for similar US goods to
Fall, leading to lower output, fewer workers, and an overall decline in union membership
Union membership has ________ in the United States because of _________
Fallen; laws enacted making it more difficult to unionize
When demand is inelastic:
consumers are not very responsive to changes in price.
Which of the following would be classified as a positive externality?
converting a derelict empty lot to a public vegetable garden
Which of the following refers to the cost of having to wait for repayment?
Time value of money
Say that Alland can produce 32 units of food per person per year or 16 units of clothing per person per year, but Georgeland can produce 24 units of food per year or 12 units of clothing. Which of the following is true?
Alland has an absolute advantage in producing food but will not trade with Georgeland.
What is meant by command economy?
An economy in which the government either makes or strongly influences most economic decisions.
As a result of the American workers' ability To sell their labor through a union, profit-making firms must pay wages
Exceeding the equilibrium wage those firms would otherwise have selected
Which of the following refers to goods and services that are produced domestically and sold in another country?
Exports
Which of the following industries is the least likely to employee unionized labor force?
Finance, insurance and real estate.
What term is used to describe another name for the budget constraint?
Opportunity set
Which of the following refers to a payment to make up for the risk of not being repaid in full?
Risk premium
What term is used to describe goods that can replace each other to some extent, so that a rise in the price of one good leads to a lower quantity consumed of another good, and vice versa?
Substitutes
The group of government programs that provide assistance to the poor and the near-poor is synonymous with which of the following?
safety net
I'MAStart-UP Corp. issued and sold 2,500,000 common voting shares during its first public stock sale. What is the minimum number of shares needed to be able to elect a new director to the Board?
1.25 million
The labor ____________ curve(s) will shift _______________ if there is an increase in productivity or an increase in the demand for the final product.
demand; right
A change in the quantity of the product that the labor produces can:
shift the demand curve for labor
If U.S. immigration consists of mainly low-skilled workers, then an increase in immigration __________ the wages of low-skilled workers.
will reduce
Which of the following is true?
A nation cannot have a comparative advantage in the production of every good.
Jeremy is an 18 year old college student with no prior credit history, who still lives at home. He will have a part-time job while he is attending college and has applied for a car loan. In these circumstances, the bank's loan officer will most likely approve the loan if Jeremy can
provide a cosigner on the loan.
After widespread press reports about the dangers of contracting "mad cow disease" by consuming beef from Canada, the likely economic effect on the U.S. demand curve for beef from Canada is:
a shift of the demand curve for beef to the left.
Economic theory offers ____________________ about the full range of possible events and responses, which can prevent __________________ about how households will respond to changes in prices or incomes.
a systematic way of thinking; misguided conclusions
A tariff differs from a quota in that a tariff is
a tax imposed on imports, whereas a quota is an absolute limit to the number of units of a good that can be imported.
A tariff differs from a quota in that a tariff is:
a tax imposed on imports, whereas a quota is an absolute limit to the number of units of a good that can be imported.
When ___________________ occurs, the result will be determined by the order in which choices are presented and voted on, not by _____________, because every choice is both preferred to some alternative and also not preferred to another alternative.
a voting cycle; majority rule
Of the many available policies to reduce discrimination by race and gender in the US labor market, the most controversial is likely to be
affirmative action goals and quotas
Refer to the above diagram. In this instance,
all of the above and the consumer can choose any point on or below the budget constraint line BC.
High-income countries of the world, meaning primarily the United States, Canada, countries of the European Union, and Japan, subsidize their domestic farmers by roughly ________ per day, including the value both of direct subsidies to farmers and indirect subsidies that come in the form of limiting imports of farm products.
$1 billion
When firms are earning profits, they can choose to reinvest some of these profits in equipment, structures, and research and development. To put this into perspective, in 2012, U.S. firms invested _____________ in new equipment and structures.
$1.6 trillion
"If I didn't have class tonight, I would save the $4 campus parking fee and spend four hours at work where I earn $10 per hour." The opportunity cost of attending class this evening is:
$44
In the U.S. economy, which exceeded $15 trillion in 2012, the money spent on political campaigns was about _________ of the overall economy.
1/20 of 1%
Women with families and children are typically paid about _______ less than Other women of similar education and work experience.
10-15% less
Alternate Outputs from One Day's Labor Input:USA: 12 bushels of wheat or 3 yards of textiles.India: 3 bushels of wheat or 12 yards of textiles.The opportunity cost of one bushel of wheat in India is
4 yards of textiles.
Which of the following characteristics relate to warranty?
A promise to fix or replace the good, at least for a certain period of time.
give government the power to block certain mergers, and in some cases, to break up large firms into smaller ones.
Antitrust laws
For the past two years, a cell phone manufacturer has been selling to a group of distributors, who then sell the products to retailers to sell to the general public. The firm has now informed it's distributors that each of them my cell the cell phones for a minimum price the manufacturer has set. In these circumstances,
Any resulting minimum resale price maintenance agreements will be illegal
On April 1, 2009, in the middle of a recession, the government of the province of Ontario, Canada increased the provincial minimum wage from $8.75 to $9.50.? What will the likely effect of this policy be?
Both the leftward shift in the labor demand curve and the higher minimum wage will lead to an increase in the unemployment rate.
The presence of organize labor in the US labor market create a situation that resembles a
Government acting as a negotiator between workers and employers
Which of the following characteristics relate to protectionism?
Government policies to reduce or block imports.
What term is used to describe the loss in social surplus that occurs when a market produces an inefficient quantity?
Deadweight loss
If immigration consist of mainly high-skilled workers, than a(n) _______ in immigration will ______ the wages of high-skilled workers
Decrease, increase
If the recent poverty line is based on the amount of money in individual has earned as income, then
Government programs that provide non-cash assistance to the poor are not considered
Which of the following characteristics relate to venture capital?
Financial investments in new companies that are still relatively small in size but that have potential to grow substantially.
Which of the following is the most appropriate response for public policy to a negative externality like pollution?
Find ways to account for the social costs of the negative externality in economic decisions
Which of the following characteristics relate to complements?
Goods that are often used together, so that a rise in the price of one good tends to decrease the quantity consumed of the other good, and vice versa.
Which of the following characteristics relate to inferior goods?
Goods where the quantity demanded falls as income rises
If the poverty trap were made even more difficult to overcome because a working mother will have extra expenses like transportation and childcare that A nonworking mother will not face, then
Her economic gains from working will be even smaller
Norway's government nationalized the countries oil resources, and it has been accumulating a massive sovereign wealth fund worth billions of dollars ever since. This sovereign fun is used as a monetary source for government funded national education and healthcare. This is because the wealth generated by nationalize industries
Is used to serve the citizens of the country
I'mAComputerCo. Would likely be more willing to undertake an innovative research project to reduce the amount of electricity required to run its computers if there were some form of guarantee that if it succeeded
It could sell the new computers as a monopoly for at least a few years
Why the US command and control environmental regulations initiated in the 1970s have been very effective at reducing pollution, some economist have difficulty with the legislation because
It is full of fine print and exceptions, and costly for some firms to comply with.
Why would a typical US business fail to take the social cost of pollution into consideration during the development of their operating strategies?
It isn't required to pay any of the cost of cleaning up its pollution
What name is given to as a person receives more of a good, the marginal utility from each additional unit of the good is smaller than from the previous unit?
Law of diminishing marginal utility
Which of the following refers to comparing the benefits and costs of choosing a little more or a little less of a good?
Marginal analysis
______________________ refers to the additional revenue gained from selling one more unit.
Marginal revenue
What name is given to the specific amount of income need it for a basic standard of living.
Poverty line
What term is used to describe a law that prevents a price from falling below a certain level?
Price floor
What term is used to describe the total number of units of a good or service purchased at a certain price?
Quantity demanded
What term is used to describe the total number of units of a good or service sold at a certain price?
Quantity supplied
Which of the following would be expected if the tariff on foreign-produced automobiles were increased?
The supply of foreign automobiles to the domestic market would be reduced, causing auto prices to rise.
Steel mill wage costs increase by 18 percent over a year. What is the likely economic effect on the market for steel?
There is an increase in the cost of producing steel, which shifts the supply curve of steel to the left, thereby increasing the price of steel.
What is meant by economic profit?
Total revenues minus all of the firm's costs, including opportunity costs.
What is meant by regulatory capture?
When firms supposedly being regulated end up playing a large role in setting the regulations that they will follow
Which of the following characteristics relate to splitting up the value chain?
When many of the different stages of producing a good happen in different geographic locations.
What is meant by fee-for-service?
When medical care providers are paid according to the services they provide
Which of the following characteristics relate to moral hazard?
When people have insurance against a certain event, they are less likely to guard against that event occurring.
What is meant by race to the bottom?
When production locates in countries with the lowest environmental (or other) standards, putting pressure on all countries to reduce their environmental standards.
Which of the following characteristics relate to allocative efficiency?
When the mix of goods being produced represents the allocation that society most desires.
Which of the following characteristics relate to price gap regulation?
When the regulator sets a price that a firm cannot exceed over the next few years.
What term is used to describe the highly inelastic case in which a percentage change in price, no matter how large, results in zero change in the quantity demanded or supplied?
Zero elasticity
Politicians often argue for tariff increases in order to reduce the nation's dependence on imports. If tariffs are increased, the long-run effect is most likely to be:
a decrease in both American imports and exports.
A firm that holds a monopoly position in the market place is
a price maker
If monopolists are able to produce fewer goods and sell them at a higher price than they could under perfect competition, the result will be
abnormally high sustained profits.
Suppose the government of Taiwan subsidized its watch-making industry, enabling Taiwanese producers to undersell foreign watch producers. The law of comparative advantage indicates that watch-importing nations would best take advantage of the Taiwanese subsidization policy by:
accepting the subsidy of the Taiwanese government, making the appropriate adjustment for the resources temporarily displaced from the domestic watch-making industry.
In order to reduce the harmful affects of recession and carbon emissions, the government provided tax incentives for manufacturing firm's to ___________________ that provide alternative, more efficient methods of combining inputs to produce output.
acquire energy efficient production technologies
Which of the following results in a rightward shift of the market demand curve for labor?
an increase in demand for the firm's product
Because of the legal protection for intellectual property, such as patents, a firm has a better chance of recouping the costs of research if it pursues
applied technological research
If the government legislates policies that block imports of solar panels and gives domestic manufacturers a $5 billion dollar tax subsidy, the benefits to the U.S. solar panel manufacturing and distribution industry will be very visible. The bearers of the cost of the tax subsidy
are more anonymous.
One alternative reaction occurs when buyers and seller decide to break the government rules on prices or sales, which is referred to as _______________.
black market
During the recent U.S. recession, some large automakers required bailouts from the federal government to avoid being forced into bankruptcy by their _________________.
bondholders
Temperatures have persisted below freezing levels in Florida throughout the months of December and January. As a result, demand for electricity sharply increased and the price of electricity rose sharply. The price of coal also rose. In these circumstances, any resulting shifts in the supply curves for coal miners and electricity producers
can also be interpreted as shifts of their respective marginal cost curves.
A 10 percent increase in the price of soda leads to a 20 percent increase in the quantity of iced tea demanded. It appears that:
cross-price elasticity of demand for iced tea is -2.
A 10 percent decrease in the price of potato chips leads to a 30 percent increase in the quantity of soda demanded. It appears that:
cross-price elasticity of demand for soda is -3.
Youth smoking seems to be more __________ than adult smoking—that is, the quantity of youth smoking will fall by a greater percentage than the quantity of adult smoking in response to a given percentage increase in price.
elastic
Why do U.S. economists commonly refer to externalities as an example of market failure?
externalities present a case where markets only consider some social costs
A firm's ___________ consist of expenditures that must be made before production starts that typically, over the short run, _______________ regardless of the level of production.
fixed costs; do not change,
There is sufficient evidence showing that union workers in the manufacturing sector generally
have higher productivity than non-union workers.
The key assumption that accompanies the use of numbers for measuring utility is that
individuals choose based on their preferences.
Refer to Figure 7-1. Graph B represents a demand curve that is relatively ____. Total revenue ____ as the price decreases from $10 to $5.
inelastic; decreases
Taxes on goods with __________ demand curves will tend to raise more tax revenue for the government than taxes on goods with __________ demand curves.
inelastic; elastic
A demand or supply curve with ______________ would be horizontal in appearance.
infinite elasticity
A lender demands an interest rate in part to compensate for any expected _________, so that the money that is repaid in the future will have at least as much buying power as the money that was originally loaned
inflation
Saving money is a(n) ____________________, because it involves less consumption in the present, but the ability to consume more in the future.
intertemporal choice
A 10 percent increase in income leads to a 15% decrease in the quantity of macaroni and cheese demanded but no change in the price of macaroni and cheese. From this information, we can assume:
macaroni is an inferior good and price elasticity of supply is infinite.
The main categories of market-oriented Approaches to pollution control are
marketable permits; better-defined property rights; pollution charges.
_________________ is the level where half of all families had more than that level and half had less.
median
With regard to labor unions, which of the following is an accurate statement?
membership is lower for agriculture or service-oriented jobs
Deregulation occurs when a government eliminates or scales back rules relating to all but one of the following. Which one is it?
natural monopoly
The reasons that nations trade includes the fact that:
no one country produces all of what citizens within the country want.
Which of the following is most likely to have a large union membership that experiences little import competition?
police services
What role does the US government play with respect to market competition?
policing anticompetitive behavior and prohibiting contracts that restrict competition
In the case of rent control, a landlord may keep the rent low but put off needed maintenance or installing new appliances. This is known as ____________________.
quality adjustment
When the level of insurance premiums that someone pays is equal to the amount that an average person in that risk group would collect in insurance payments, the level of insurance
reaches actuarial fairness.
The problem of special interests in politics can be related to an economic policy problem called ________________________.
regulatory capture
Which of the following is considered to be a method that firms can use to raise the financial capital that they need to pay for modernizing their production plants?
reinvesting profits
As depicted in _________________________________, it is necessary to give up some of one good to gain more of the other good.
the production possibilities frontier
Which of the following arguments would most likely be presented by a critic of labor unions?
unions can prohibit economic growth if new technology is blocked
Australian law may require people to vote, but mandatory voting laws are unlikely to mean that each vote cast in an election __________________________________.
will be an informed or a thoughtful vote
If you are highly asthmatic, then having high levels of industrial air pollutants waft over your house every day
would be a negative externality.
If the largest four firms in an industry control less than half the market, their competitive concentration ratio
would not be considered particularly high
Would raising the price for a product create a larger decline in quantity demanded for a monopolistic competitor's than it would for a monopoly?
yes; consumers will buy from competitors offering lower priced substitutes