Notes, abstracts, papers, exams and problems of Economy

Factors of World Economic Growth: 1945-2007

The second half of the twentieth century (1950-2000) witnessed unprecedented economic and population growth, improving living standards globally. World population more than doubled, rising from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 6 billion in 2000. Production increased over sevenfold, leading to a near tripling of per capita income, despite the population surge. This was achieved with reduced working hours due to significant productivity improvements. Individuals enjoyed more goods, leisure time, better health, and education. However, inequality, poverty, and hunger persisted.

The Golden Age (1950-1973)

This period, also known as the War Boom or Trente Glorieuses, was characterized by stable, regular, and intensive... Continue reading "Global Economic Growth: 1945-2008" »

The Formation of the Corporation

France

French corporations were smaller compared to those in the U.S., England, and Germany. They were often family-dominated and had a close relationship between management and ownership. Examples include Renault cars and Michelin rubber. These corporations featured simple management structures, strong organizational skills in production, but weaker distribution capabilities.

Factors Limiting Concentration:

• Small market size
• Existence of a dense distribution network
• Industry expertise focused on quality goods

Forms of Cooperation:

• Restrictive sales promotion through specific organizations
• Innovation through holding groups of companies that controlled legal and stock exchange matters
• Mergers, which emerged in the early

Factoring entities are financial operations, with or without the right of recourse and its maturity. Commercial credits are generated against their clients (invoices, receipts, bills of exchange, etc.). The factoring entity is in charge of putting these credits into circulation, collecting them, accounting for them preferentially, and establishing the form and period of effect with client meetings, assuming the risk of the holder's insolvency.

Contract Elements

Personal Elements

1. Factoring entity: Analyzes the solvency of clients and, once accepted for the assignment, performs a function of 1% of the determined credit for each client. It assumes the risk of insolvency of the assigned credit and manages its collection in exchange for a commission

In the short term, some companies can convert fixed or variable costs to fixed costs. Generally, fixed costs, such as rent for premises, are independent of the level of production. Variable costs are proportional to the volume produced.

Types of Costs

• Direct Costs: These can be directly related to the production of a product or a specific department.
• Indirect Costs: These relate to multiple departments or products, making direct allocation difficult.

Productivity

Productivity is the relationship between the quantity of output produced and the quantity of resources used to achieve that production.

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a visual tool where the horizontal axis represents the time needed to complete a task, and the vertical axis lists the activities... Continue reading "Business Operations: Costs, Productivity, and Marketing" »

Key Business Approaches

3 Approaches:

• Work and organizations (planning, organizing, controlling)
• People (communication, motivation, leadership, work group formation)
• Production and operations

Essential Entrepreneur Skills

5 Critical Entrepreneur Skills:

• Leadership
• Communication
• Decision-making
• Teamwork
• Strategic Vision

Common Entrepreneurial Mistakes

5 Mistakes:

• Unclear goals
• Trying to prove you're smart
• Greed
• Hiring people they like instead of need

The 3 C's of Business

3 C's:

• Company
• Customers
• Competition

Start-Up Costs

Start-Up Costs:

1. Expenses (legal structure, workspace, remodeling, stationery, logos, web page)
2. Purchase assets (inventory, office supplies)
3. Ongoing monthly expenses (rent, utilities, payroll, insurance)
4. Monthly sales projections

Business Plan Components

Executive

Understanding Demand and Supply

A shift in the demand curve signifies a change in the quantity demanded at any given price. This is visually represented by a shift of the demand curve to a new position, resulting in a new demand curve.

Movements Along the Demand Curve

A movement along the demand curve represents a change in the quantity demanded of a good as a result of a change in its price.

Shifts in the Demand Curve

• A rightward shift reflects an increase in the quantity demanded at any price level.
• A leftward shift reflects a decrease in the quantity demanded at any price level.

Supply Curve Dynamics

A shift in the supply curve represents a variation in the quantity supplied at any given price. This is reflected in a shift of the supply curve to... Continue reading "Demand and Supply: Shifts, Movements, and Market Equilibrium" »

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,

Economic Rationality

Economic rationality assumes that households and businesses use their scarce resources to maximize their own utility or profit, respectively. It is used to model economics to explain and predict the behavior of economic agents.

Households

Function: Consumer target

Objective: Maximize their own welfare by choosing goods that satisfy them according to their preferences and their limited budget.

Businesses

Function: Production

Objective: Maximize profits through effective utilization of available resources to produce goods and services as profitably as possible.

Public Sector

Function: Regulation system

Objective: Maximize the general welfare by using available resources to produce required public goods and services and reducing inequalities.... Continue reading "Economic Rationality: Households, Businesses, and the Public Sector" »

Marketing and Business

The Concept of Marketing

Marketing is the process of creating, communicating, and distributing value to satisfy consumer needs and establish lasting exchange relationships. It focuses on acquiring new customers while retaining existing ones, as they generate the majority of sales revenue. Marketing stimulates demand but does not create the need.

Marketing Guidelines

Marketing strategies vary depending on the market situation. Key approaches include:

• Production Orientation

  Focuses on lowering production costs to offer lower-priced products (e.g., Henry Ford's approach).

• Product Orientation

  Emphasizes producing the highest quality products, applicable when demand exceeds supply (e.g., early mobile phones).

• Sales Orientation

  Prioritizes

Understanding Key Financial Components

Active Non-Current Assets

Intangible Assets

• Research and Development
• Administrative concessions, industrial property, and transfer rights
• Computer software

Fixed Assets

• Land and natural resources (not specified)
• Construction (not specified)
• Technical installations
• Machinery
• Cranes
• Furniture
• Equipment for process information
• Other tangible assets

Investment Property

• Land and natural resources (specified)
• Construction (specified)

Long-Term Financial Investments

Current Assets

Stocks

• Commercial
• Raw materials
• Current Products
• Finished Products

Receivables

• Customers
• Debtors
• Public Finance debtors
• Organizations-Social Security debtors

Available

• Banks and credit institutions
• Safety

Financial Returns

Financial (ROI, ROA): BAII / Total Assets:... Continue reading "Understanding Assets, Liabilities, and Financial Ratios" »