Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Economics for Vocational training

The Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is a person who takes the initiative and assumes the risk in a company. This individual may be referred to as an autonomous social agent and is a leader in a cooperative or commercial enterprise.

Concept of Business

A business is an economic production unit whose purpose is to create or increase the utility of goods and meet human needs. The end goal of the company is to achieve the objectives it has set, seeking to maximize its benefits.

Company Features

• Common: Accounting, financial, administrative, and HR.
• Specific: Commercial, production, research.
• Other: Technical, security, R&D.

Elements of a Company

• Internal:
  • Materials: Land, buildings and installations, machinery and transport elements, stocks, money, clients,

Banking Financial Intermediaries in Spain

Banks, thrifts, and credit unions constitute the Spanish banking system. These entities are financial intermediaries. The primary differences between them lie in their legal structure:

• Banks: Private companies aiming to generate profits for their owners.
• Savings Banks: Non-profit entities allocating profits to charitable and social causes.
• Credit Unions: Members are depositors who benefit from their financial services.

Regarding services, the typical activities of these banking intermediaries are very similar: deposit-taking and lending.

Market Failures

1. Cycles: The market is criticized for failing to ensure stable economic growth.
2. Externalities: Many economic activities generate external effects on society

Understanding the Equity Market

The equity market, also known as the stock market or share market, is a financial market where ownership shares of publicly traded companies are bought and sold. It provides a platform for companies to raise capital by issuing shares to the public, and for investors to buy these shares and become partial owners of the company.

The equity market plays a crucial role in the economy by facilitating the transfer of funds from investors to businesses, which can then use the capital to expand operations, invest in projects, or meet other financial requirements.

Key Reforms in the Equity Market

Reforms initiated in the equity market are often aimed at enhancing transparency, efficiency, investor protection, and overall...

The Three Phases of Value Delivery

We can divide the value creation and delivery sequence into three distinct phases. This process begins before a product exists and continues through development and after launch. Each phase has significant cost implications.

1. Choosing the Value (Strategic Marketing): This represents the “homework” marketing must complete before any product exists. Marketers must segment the market, select the appropriate target, and develop the offering’s value positioning. The formula Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning (STP) is the essence of strategic marketing.
2. Providing the Value (Tactical Implementation): Marketing must determine specific product features, pricing strategies, and distribution channels.
3. Communicating

Core Concepts: Managing Market Demand

Needs, Wants, and Demands

People have needs for specific goods or services. Companies aim to identify and satisfy these needs. A complete demand includes four components:

• The underlying need and the specific want.
• The budget (ability to pay).
• The specific plan to purchase the item.

Types of Consumer Needs

Understanding the different levels of needs is crucial for effective marketing:

• Stated Needs: Explicit requests. Example: “I want to buy a cheap car.”
• Real Needs: The underlying requirement. Example: “I want a car that does not consume a lot of fuel.”
• Unstated Needs: Needs the customer has not yet consciously considered.
• Delight Needs: Identifying secondary needs that exceed basic expectations.
• Secret Needs:

Unit 4: Cost Allocation and Imputation Itinerary

1. Methodologies for Cost Location

1.1. Based on Functions and Departments

The location of costs, or the itinerary of imputation, aims to find the entity that originates the cost.

In accounting for the presence of indirect costs—which measure resource consumption that cannot be directly traced to the product—it is necessary to find a way of estimating the relationship between the volume of costs and the volume of production. The solution is to set an itinerary of imputation, with different stages represented by cost centers, determining the relationship between resource consumption in the center and the different costs. Costs could be directly allocated to sections or centers or indirectly, using...

1. Legal and Economic Definition of Enterprise

Economic definition of enterprise

• An enterprise may be defined as an organized assemblage of capital and work intended for manufacturing or distributing goods or services for meeting market demand.
• It designates activity and the instrumental organization.

Legal definition of enterprise

There is no single unitary concept of "enterprise" from the legal point of view. In legal terminology the concept of enterprise can embody different meanings. Thus it is clear that the concept of enterprise in laws against restraints on competition does not coincide with that of corporation law. In company law, an enterprise is identified with the single legal personality of each company or corporation; in restraints-...

General Operations

• COBRA Interests: (572) (473) to (761)
• COBRA Shares: (572) (473) to (760)
• COBRA Income: (572) (473) to (762)
• Service Provision: (440) to (759) (477)
• Lease to Local Company: (440) (4751) to (752) (477)
• Patent Usage Rights: (440) (473) to (477) (753) *retention*
• Quarterly Bank Account Settlement: (627) (472) to (572) / (572) (662) (626) (473) to (762)
• Service Provision: (440) to (759) (477)
• Company Vehicle Transport: (440) to (759) (77)

Sales Transactions

• Merchandise Returns (Not Adjusted): (768) (477) to (430)
• Prompt Payment Discount: (706) (477) to (430)
• Volume Discount (Rappel): (709) (477) to (430)
• Packaging Returns: (437) (477) to (430) / (437) (704)
• Advance Payment for Future Sale: (57) to (438) (477) *VAT discounted*
• Apply Advance Payment

Item 3: Social Security Contributions

1. Definition and Purpose of Contributions

A contribution (or assessment) is the mandatory payment made by individuals or entities to fund the Social Security system. The specific amount contributed depends on the scheme or category under which the person is registered.

2. Basic Elements of Contribution Assessment

The basic elements used for calculating contributions are three:

• The Contribution Base
• The Contribution Rate
• The Contribution Fee (or amount payable)

What is the Contribution Base?

The Contribution Base is the calculated amount resulting from applying specific rules defined for each scheme established in the relevant national legislation (e.g., the Finance Act or State Budget Law).

What is the Contribution

Role of Distribution Channels

• Centralize basic marketing decisions: The type of wholesale has an important influence.
• Helps reduce costs: Distribution channels can reduce storage and transportation costs. Outsourcing these functions allows companies to focus on their core competencies.
• An asset to the company: A well-chosen distribution channel can be a very important asset.
• Intervenes in pricing: Distribution channels advise on the most suitable pricing strategy. The more intermediaries a product passes through, the longer and more expensive the channel becomes. However, a short channel provides the advantage of first-hand information.
• Provides market information: Distribution channels possess valuable information about the market, competition,