Specialisation and division of labour

Specialisation occurs when workers are assigned specific tasks within a production process. Workers will require less training to be an efficient worker. Therefore this will lead to an increase in labour productivity and firms will be able to benefit from economies of scale (lower average costs with increased output) and increased efficiency. Examples of specialisation …

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The knowledge economy

jobs without degree

Definition of knowledge economy The sector of the economy which is increasingly based on knowledge-intensive activities, creating a greater reliance on intellectual capital rather than physical inputs. The OECD state the knowledge economy is associated with: High-tech manufacturing (computer, electronics, aerospace), Service sector industries, such as education  healthcare and software design Business services such as …

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Productive vs allocative efficiency

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Summary: Productive efficiency is concerned with the optimal method of producing goods; producing goods at the lowest cost. Allocative efficiency is concerned with the optimal distribution of goods and services. Example: An economy could be productively efficient in producing large numbers of boots – but if they were all for the left foot, it would …

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Population density

victorian houses

Population density is the average number of people living per square mile/km. A high population density implies that the population is high relative to the size of the country. Countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands have a high population density. Large countries, such as Australia and Canada have very low densities. Though this low …

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Winners and losers from a weak Pound

The Brexit vote has led to sharp fall in the value of the Pound, at one stage falling to £1 = $1.22 – a fall of over 15%. This will have a significant impact on British firms, consumers and also those outside Europe. In short: Winners from weak Pound UK exporters who will be more …

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Factors affecting the Stock Market

FTSE_100_index

Movements in the stock market can be quite volatile and sometimes movements in share prices can seem divorced from economic factors. However, there are certain underlying factors which have a strong influence on the movement of share prices and the stock market in general. Generally, shares will be in greater demand when investors have the …

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Command economy

A command or planned economy occurs when the government controls all major aspects of the economy and economic production. In a command economy, it is the government that decides what to produce, how to produce goods and how to distribute goods and services within the economy. Command economies were often associated with the political system …

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Circular Flow of Income Diagram

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The Circular flow of income diagram models what happens in a very basic economy.   In the very basic model, we have two principal components of the economy: Firms. Companies who pay wages to workers and produce output. Households. Individuals who consume goods and receive wages from firms. This circular flow of income also shows …

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