Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Principles of Economics 2e

Key Terms

Principles of Economics 2eKey Terms
cartel
a group of firms that collude to produce the monopoly output and sell at the monopoly price
collusion
when firms act together to reduce output and keep prices high
differentiated product
a product that consumers perceive as distinctive in some way
duopoly
an oligopoly with only two firms
game theory
a branch of mathematics that economists use to analyze situations in which players must make decisions and then receive payoffs based on what decisions the other players make
imperfectly competitive
firms and organizations that fall between the extremes of monopoly and perfect competition
kinked demand curve
a perceived demand curve that arises when competing oligopoly firms commit to match price cuts, but not price increases
monopolistic competition
many firms competing to sell similar but differentiated products
oligopoly
when a few large firms have all or most of the sales in an industry
prisoner’s dilemma
a game in which the gains from cooperation are larger than the rewards from pursuing self-interest
product differentiation
any action that firms do to make consumers think their products are different from their competitors'
PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-economics-2e/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-economics-2e/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jun 15, 2022 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.