📚 Year 13 OCR Economics: Glossary Quick Memorisation Guide | Year 13 OCR 经济:词汇术语速记指南
Mastering technical vocabulary is the gateway to high marks in OCR A-Level Economics. This guide pairs every key term with a concise definition and a memory shortcut, helping you move from rote recall to precise application in essays and data-response questions. Each section mirrors the Year 13 syllabus, building a mental framework that connects microeconomic theory with real-world macroeconomic debates.
掌握专业术语是在 OCR A-Level 经济考试中取得高分的关键。本指南为每个核心词汇都配上了简洁定义和记忆技巧,帮助你把死记硬背转化为论文和数据分析题中的精准应用。每一节都紧扣 Year 13 考纲,逐步构建起连接微观原理与真实宏观经济议题的思维框架。
1. Market Structures Spectrum | 市场结构谱系
Market structure: The organisational and competitive characteristics of a market, determined by the number of firms, type of product, barriers to entry, and degree of price-setting power. Think of a spectrum from perfect competition (many small firms, no power) to pure monopoly (one firm, full power).
市场结构: 由企业数量、产品类型、进入壁垒和定价能力决定的市场组织与竞争特征。可以想象成一个从完全竞争(众多小企业,无定价权)到完全垄断(一家企业,完全定价权)的光谱。
Barriers to entry: Obstacles that make it difficult for new firms to enter a market, such as high start-up costs, legal patents, or control of scarce resources. High barriers protect incumbent firms' supernormal profits.
进入壁垒: 使新企业难以进入市场的障碍,如高启动成本、专利保护或对稀缺资源的控制。高壁垒保护了现有企业的超额利润。
Homogeneous vs differentiated products: Homogeneous goods are identical (e.g., wheat), leaving price as the only basis of competition. Differentiated products have real or perceived differences (branding, design) that allow firms to charge a premium.
同质产品与差异化产品: 同质产品完全相同(如小麦),价格是唯一的竞争基础。差异化产品具有真实或感知的差异(品牌、设计),使企业能够收取溢价。
Concentration ratio (CRn): The combined market share of the top n firms (usually CR4 or CR5). A CR4 above 60 % indicates an oligopolistic market; below 40 % suggests a competitive environment.
集中度比率 (CRn): 前 n 家企业市场份额的总和(通常取 CR4 或 CR5)。CR4 超过 60 % 表明市场为寡头结构,低于 40 % 则表明竞争环境。
2. Perfect Competition & Efficiency Benchmarks | 完全竞争与效率基准
Perfect competition: A theoretical market structure with many buyers and sellers, homogeneous products, perfect information, and no barriers to entry or exit. Firms are 'price-takers' and earn only normal profit in the long run.
完全竞争: 一种理论上的市场结构,特点为买卖双方数量众多、产品同质、信息完全且无进出壁垒。企业是'价格接受者',长期只能获得正常利润。
Allocative efficiency (P=MC): uction. In perfect competition, equilibrium occurs where P=MC, meaning no deadweight loss.
配置效率 (P=MC): 资源完全跟随消费者偏好;消费者支付的价格反映了生产的边际成本。在完全竞争中,均衡发生在 P=MC 处,意味着没有无谓损失。
Productive efficiency (ATC at minimum): Output is produced at the lowest possible average total cost. Perfectly competitive firms are driven to the minimum point of the ATC curve in the long run, maximising output per unit of input.
生产效率 (平均总成本最低): 以尽可能低的平均总成本生产产出。完全竞争企业长期被推向 ATC 曲线的最低点,实现了单位投入产出的最大化。
Dynamic efficiency: Efficiency through innovation, investment, and technological progress over time. Though perfect competition is statically efficient, it often lacks supernormal profit to fund R&D, so dynamic efficiency is more commonly associated with larger firms.
动态效率: 通过创新、投资和技术进步随时间推移实现的效率。尽管完全竞争在静态上有效率,但它通常缺少用于研发的超额利润,因此动态效率更常见于大企业。
3. Monopoly & Market Power | 垄断与市场力量
Pure monopoly: A single seller dominates the market with a unique product and insurmountable barriers to entry. The monopolist is a 'price-maker' that can restrict output to raise price, creating a deadweight welfare loss.
完全垄断: 单一卖方以独特的产品和不可逾越的进入壁垒支配市场。垄断者是'价格制定者',可以通过限制产量提高价格,造成无谓福利损失。
Natural monopoly: A market where a single firm can supply the whole market at a lower cost than two or more firms due to massive economies of scale (e.g., water utilities). Regulation often imposes a price cap or a fair-return price.
自然垄断: 由于巨大的规模经济,一家企业能以比两家或多家企业更低的成本服务整个市场(如水务公司)。监管通常施加价格上限或公平回报定价。
Price discrimination: Charging different consumers different prices for the same good, based on willingness to pay. Requires market power, separable groups, and limited resale (e.g., peak/off-peak train tickets). Can shift consumer surplus to producer surplus.
价格歧视: 根据支付意愿对同一商品向不同消费者收取不同价格。这需要市场力量、可分离的群体和有限的转售可能(如高峰期与非高峰期火车票)。可将消费者剩余转化为生产者剩余。
X-inefficiency: Slacker management and rising average costs that occur when a firm faces insufficient competitive pressure. A monopoly cushioned by barriers often suffers X-inefficiency, producing above the minimum cost curve.
X-无效率: 当企业面临竞争压力不足时,管理松懈和平均成本上升的现象。受到壁垒保护的垄断企业常出现 X-无效率,在最低成本曲线之上生产。
4. Oligopoly & Strategic Behaviour | 寡头与策略行为
Oligopoly: A market dominated by a few large firms, characterised by mutual interdependence. The kinked demand curve model explains price rigidity: firms match a price cut but ignore a price rise, leading to a gap in the MR curve.
寡头市场: 由少数大企业主导的市场,特点是相互依赖。扭折的需求曲线模型解释了价格刚性:企业会跟随降价但忽略涨价,导致边际收益曲线出现缺口。
Game theory & Nash equilibrium: A tool for analysing strategic interdependence, where each firm's best move depends on rivals' expected actions. In a Nash equilibrium, no firm can improve its outcome by changing strategy unilaterally, often seen in a prisoner's dilemma.
博弈论与纳什均衡: 分析策略相互依赖的工具,每个企业的最佳行动取决于对竞争对手反应的预期。在纳什均衡中,没有任何企业能通过单方面改变策略来改善结果,常体现在囚徒困境中。
Collusion: Firms cooperate to reduce competition and raise joint profits. Overt collusion (formal cartels) is illegal in most countries; tacit collusion involves unspoken coordination, such as price leadership.
合谋: 企业合作以减少竞争并提高联合利润。公开合谋(正式卡特尔)在大多数国家是违法的;默契合谋则涉及心照不宣的协调,如价格领导制。
Contestable market: A market with no sunk costs, no barriers to entry or exit, and where potential competition disciplines incumbent firms. Even a monopoly can behave competitively if the market is perfectly contestable, forced to set price near average cost.
可竞争市场: 不存在沉没成本、无进出壁垒,潜在竞争迫使在位企业自律的市场。如果市场完全可竞争,即使是垄断企业也不得不将价格定在平均成本附近,表现得像竞争企业。
5. Labour Market & Wage Differentials | 劳动力市场与工资差异
Marginal revenue product of labour (MRPL): er, calculated as MPL × MR. A profit-maximising firm hires workers until MRPL = wage rate.
劳动的边际收益产品 (MRPL): 多雇用一名工人带来的额外收益,计算公式为 MPL × MR。追求利润最大化的企业会雇佣工人直至 MRPL 等于工资率。
Monopsony power: A single dominant buyer of labour (e.g., a large hospital in a small town) that can drive wages below competitive levels. A monopsonist faces an upward-sloping supply curve and equates marginal cost of labour with MRPL, employing fewer workers and paying lower wages.
买方垄断力量: 单一主导的劳动力买家(如小城镇的大医院)能将工资压低至竞争水平以下。买方垄断者面对向上倾斜的供给曲线,使劳动边际成本等于 MRPL,从而雇佣更少工人、支付更低工资。
Trade union & bilateral monopoly: A union acts as a wage-setter by controlling labour supply. When a union faces a monopsony employer, the outcome depends on relative bargaining strength; wages can rise toward competitive levels without necessarily reducing employment.
工会与双边垄断: 工会通过控制劳动力供给成为工资制定者。当工会面对买方垄断雇主时,结果取决于双方的议价能力;工资可能上升至竞争水平而不必然减少就业。
Geographical & occupational immobility: Structural unemployment arises when workers are unable or unwilling to move to where jobs exist (geographical), or when they lack the skills for available vacancies (occupational). Training and relocation subsidies address these mismatches.
地理与职业流动性不足: 当劳动者不能或不愿移居到有工作的地方(地理),或缺乏合适技能填补空岗(职业)时,就会产生结构性失业。培训补助和搬迁补贴可以应对这些错配。
6. Macro Objectives & Demand Management | 宏观目标与需求管理
Four macroeconomic objectives: Governments typically pursue stable low inflation (CPI near 2 %), sustained economic growth (rising real GDP), low unemployment, and a sustainable balance of payments. Some also targets a balanced government budget or reduced inequality.
四大宏观经济目标: 政府通常追求稳定的低通胀(CPI 接近2 %)、持续的经济增长(实际 GDP 上升)、低失业率以及可持续的国际收支平衡。有些还追求政府预算平衡或减少不平等。
Fiscal policy instruments: Government spending (G) and taxation (T). Expansionary fiscal policy (G↑ or T↓) boosts aggregate demand; contractionary policy (G↓ or T↑) cools an overheating economy. Automatic stabilisers (progressive taxes, welfare) work without deliberate action.
财政政策工具: 政府支出 (G) 和税收 (T)。扩张性财政政策(G↑ 或 T↓)提振总需求;紧缩性政策(G↓ 或 T↑)为过热经济降温。自动稳定器(累进税、福利)无需刻意行动即可发挥作用。
Monetary policy & transmission mechanism: Central banks adjust the policy interest rate to influence borrowing, spending, and inflation via the transmission mechanism. A lower rate stimulates investment and consumption, shifting AD right; a higher rate does the opposite. Quantitative easing (QE) operates through asset purchases to inject liquidity when rates are near zero.
货币政策与传导机制: 央行调整政策利率,通过传导机制影响借贷、消费和通胀。较低利率刺激投资和消费,使 AD 右移;较高利率则相反。当利率接近零时,量化宽松 (QE) 通过购买资产注入流动性。
7. Aggregate Demand & Aggregate Supply | 总需求与总供给
Aggregate demand (AD = C + I + G + (X − M)): The total planned spending on domestic output at a given price level. A fall in price level causes an expansion along the AD curve; changes in confidence, wealth, exchange rates, or government policy shift the entire curve.
总需求 (AD = C + I + G + (X − M)): 在给定的价格水平下,计划用于国内产出的总支出。价格水平下降导致沿 AD 曲线的扩张;信心、财富、汇率或政府政策的变化则使整条曲线移动。
Short-run aggregate supply (SRAS): Shows the relationship between output and the price level holding factor prices (especially wages) constant. SRAS shifts with changes in costs of raw materials, energy, indirect taxes, or subsidies.
短期总供给 (SRAS): 展示在要素价格(尤其是工资)不变的情况下产出与价格水平的关系。SRAS 会因原材料成本、能源成本、间接税或补贴的变化而移动。
Long-run aggregate supply (LRAS) – Classical vs Keynesian: Classical LRAS is vertical at full employment, reflecting supply-side capacity determined by quantity and quality of factors. Keynesian LRAS is horizontal at low output (spare capacity) and becomes vertical only when all resources are fully employed.
长期总供给 (LRAS) – 古典派与凯恩斯派: 古典 LRAS 在充分就业处垂直,反映由要素数量和质量决定的供给侧产能。凯恩斯 LRAS 在低产出段(闲置产能)呈水平状,只有当所有资源充分利用后才变为垂直。
Multiplier effect: ection of spending leads to a larger final increase in national income, because one person's spending becomes another' epends on the marginal propensity to withdraw (MPW = MPS + MPT + MPM); multiplier = 1/MPW.
乘数效应: 一笔初始注入支出最终带来更大规模的国民收入增加,因为一方的支出成为另一方的收入。乘数大小取决于边际漏出倾向 (MPW = MPS + MPT + MPM);乘数 = 1/MPW。
8. International Trade & Exchange Rate Systems | 国际贸易与汇率制度
Comparative advantage: A country has a comparative advantage when it produces a good at a lower opportunity cost than another country. Specialisation according to comparative advantage allows higher combined output, even if one country holds an absolute advantage in all goods. The theory ignores transport costs and assumes constant returns.
比较优势: 当一国生产某种商品的机会成本低于他国时,它就拥有比较优势。依据比较优势进行专业化分工可以实现更高的联合产出,即使一国在所有商品上都具有绝对优势。该理论忽略了运输成本并假定规模报酬不变。
Terms of trade: en volume of exports buys more imports; a deterioration raises the burden of servicing trade.
贸易条件: 衡量出口价格与进口价格比率的指数(平均出口价格/平均进口价格 × 100)。改善意味着给定数量的出口可以购买更多进口;恶化则增加了贸易偿付负担。
Protectionism: Tariffs (tax on imports), quotas (quantity limit), and non-tariff barriers (regulations) designed to shield domestic industries from foreign competition. They raise domestic prices, harm consumers, and can trigger retaliation, but may protect infant industries or national security.
贸易保护主义: 关税(对进口征税)、配额(数量限制)和非关税壁垒(法规)旨在保护国内产业免受外国竞争。这会抬高国内价格、损害消费者并可能引发报复,但有可能保护幼稚产业或国家安全。
Exchange rate systems: A floating exchange rate is determined by market forces of demand and supply for a currency. A fixed exchange rate is pegged by the central bank to another currency or basket, requiring foreign reserves to maintain the peg. Managed floats combine both.
汇率制度: 浮动汇率由货币的市场需求和供给力量决定。固定汇率则由央行钉住另一货币或货币篮子,需要动用外汇储备来维持钉住水平。管理浮动则是两者的结合。
9. Economic Development & Growth Models | 经济发展与增长模型
Economic growth vs development: Growth refers to an increase in real GDP (quantitative). Development encompasses improvements in living standards, health, education, and reduced poverty (qualitative), often measured by the Human Development Index (HDI).
经济增长与经济发展: 增长指实际 GDP 的增加(量)。发展则涵盖生活水平、健康、教育的改善以及贫困减少(质),通常用人类发展指数 (HDI) 衡量。
Harrod-Domar model: Growth rate depends on the savings ratio and the capital-output ratio. Higher savings finance investment, but the model highlights that developing countries also need productivity improvements to avoid diminishing returns. It's a reminder that 'saving gap' matters but is not sufficient alone.
哈罗德-多马模型: 增长率取决于储蓄率和资本-产出比率。更高的储蓄为投资提供资金,但该模型强调发展中国家还需要提高生产率以避免收益递减。它提醒我们'储蓄缺口'很重要,但仅有它还不够。
Lewis dual-sector model: Surplus labour moves from low-productivity traditional agriculture to a high-productivity modern industrial sector. The industrial sector reinvests profits, absorbing more labour until the surplus is exhausted and wages begin to rise across the economy.
刘易斯二元结构模型: 剩余劳动力从低生产率的传统农业部门转移至高生产率的现代工业部门。工业部门将利润再投资,吸收更多劳动力,直至剩余被消耗殆尽,经济整体工资开始上涨。
Prebisch-Singer hypothesis: The terms of trade for primary-commodity-exporting developing countries tend to deteriorate over time relative to manufactured goods, because demand for commodities is income-inelastic. This justifies policies like import-substitution industrialisation or diversification.
普雷维什-辛格假说: 相比制成品,初级产品出口国的发展中国家贸易条件长期趋于恶化,因为对大宗商品的需求收入弹性低。这为进口替代工业化或多元化等政策提供了依据。
10. Financial Markets & the Role of Central Banks | 金融市场与中央银行角色
Functions of money: A medium of exchange (avoids barter), a store of value (saves purchasing power), a unit of account (measures value), and a standard of deferred payment (enables credit). Remove any one and money loses its effectiveness.
货币的职能: 交易媒介(避免物物交换)、价值储藏(保存购买力)、计价单位(衡量价值)以及延期支付标准(使信用成为可能)。失去任何一个功能,货币的有效性都会打折。
Money supply measures: Narrow money (M0 or M1) includes physical currency and sight deposits; broad money (M4 in the UK) adds time deposits and other liquid assets. Central banks monitor broad money for inflationary signals.
货币供应量指标: 狭义货币(M0 或 M1)包括实物现金和活期存款;广义货币(英国的 M4)加上定期存款和其他流动资产。央行监控广义货币以寻找通胀信号。
Financial market roles: They channel savings into investment, provide liquidity, enable risk-sharing through derivatives, and determine asset prices via market forces. A failure in financial intermediation (credit crunch) can cause a deep recession.
金融市场的角色: 将储蓄引导至投资、提供流动性、通过衍生品实现风险分担,并通过市场力量决定资产价格。金融中介失效(信贷紧缩)可能导致深度衰退。
Central bank independence: Many central banks (e.g., Bank of England MPC) are operationally independent, setting interest rates free from political pressure to build credibility and anchor inflation expectations. Governments still set the inflation target.
央行独立性: 许多央行(如英格兰银行货币政策委员会)具有操作独立性,可以在不受政治压力影响下设定利率,从而建立信誉并锚定通胀预期。政府仍负责设定通胀目标。
11. Government Failure & Policy Conflicts | 政府失灵与政策冲突
Government failure: Occurs when government intervention worsens resource allocation or creates new inefficiencies, often due to imperfect information, unintended consequences, bureaucratic costs, or regulatory capture. Net welfare loss can exceed the original market failure.
政府失灵: 当政府干预使资源配置恶化或造成新的无效率时发生,常由信息不完善、意外后果、官僚成本或监管俘获导致。净福利损失可能超过原有的市场失灵。
Laffer curve: Illustrates the relationship between tax rate and total tax revenue. Beyond an optimal rate, higher taxes discourage work, investment, and encourage tax avoidance, reducing revenue. Helps explain why cutting high marginal tax rates might boost economic activity.
拉弗曲线: 描绘了税率与总税收之间的关系。超过最优税率后,更高税率会抑制工作、投资并鼓励避税,降低税收收入。解释了为什么降低高边际税率可能刺激经济活动。
Policy trade-offs: Phillips curve suggests a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment; supply-side improvements can shift this outward. There may also be conflicts between growth and environmental sustainability, or between internal balance (full employment) and external balance (current account deficit).
政策权衡: 菲利普斯曲线表明通胀与失业之间存在短期权衡取舍;供给侧改善能将此边界外移。还可能存在增长与环境可持续性之间的冲突,或内部平衡(充分就业)与外部平衡(经常账户赤字)之间的冲突。
Tax incidence: Analysis of who truly bears the burden of a tax. If demand is inelastic, consumers bear most of the tax; if supply is inelastic, producers bear more. The government's intent to tax producers does not guarantee they pay it.
税收归宿: 分析税收负担真正由谁承担。如果需求缺乏弹性,消费者承担大部分;如果供给缺乏弹性,生产者承担更多。政府意图对生产者征税并不能确保他们真正付费。
12. Sustainability & Environmental Economics | 可持续性与环境经济
Negative externality: A cost suffered by a third party not involved in the transaction. Pollution from a factory imposes health and clean-up costs on society that are not included in the firm's supply curve, causing overproduction. Internalising the externality (e.g., Pigouvian tax) shifts the MPC curve toward MSC.
负外部性: 未参与交易的第三方所承受的成本。工厂污染给社会带来健康与清理成本,这些成本未计入企业的供给曲线,导致过度生产。内部化外部性(如庇古税)可让 MPC 曲线向 MSC 靠拢。
Tragedy of the commons: A shared resource (fishing grounds, clean air) is overused and depleted because each individual user reaps full benefit while distributing the cost across all. Solutions include property rights, quotas, or collective management.
公地悲剧: 共享资源(渔场、清洁空气)因每个使用者都能获得全部收益而成本却由所有人分摊,从而被过度使用和耗尽。解决办法包括产权界定、配额或集体管理。
Carbon pricing & cap-and-trade: Carbon taxes set a direct price on emissions; cap-and-trade systems set a total emission limit and allow firms to trade permits. Both use market mechanisms to achieve a given emission reduction at the lowest overall cost, encouraging green innovation.
碳定价与限额交易: 碳税对排放直接定价;限额交易则设定排放总量并允许企业交易配额。两者均利用市场机制以最低总成本实现给定减排目标,鼓励绿色创新。
Sustainable development: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In economics, this implies maintaining or growing natural, human, and physical capital stocks, often assessed through 'genuine savings' measures.
可持续发展: 满足当代需求而不损害未来世代满足其自身需求的能力。经济学中,这意味着维持或增长自然、人力和物质资本存量,常用'真实储蓄'指标评估。
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