Anticipated Inflation
Macroeconomics
Inflation that households and firms expect and incorporate into wages, prices, and nominal interest rates.
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Antitrust
Market Structure Microeconomics
Competition policy that targets cartels, exclusionary conduct, and mergers that harm market rivalry.
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Applied Microeconomics
Microeconomics Econometrics
The use of microeconomic theory and data to answer real-world questions about households, firms, and policy.
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Apprenticeship
Labor Economics Economics
A paid training arrangement that combines work experience with structured skill formation.
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Appropriation Account
Accounting Corporate Finance
An accounting statement showing how profit is allocated after it has been earned.
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Appropriation Bill
Public Finance Economics
Legislation that authorizes the government to spend public money for approved purposes.
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Arbitrage
Investments Economics
Profiting from price differences for the same or equivalent asset across markets or forms.
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Arbitrage Pricing Theory
Investments Valuation
A multi-factor asset pricing framework where no-arbitrage implies expected returns are linear in factor exposures.
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Arbitrageur
Investments Market Structure
A trader who exploits pricing inconsistencies and helps push markets toward more consistent prices.
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Arbitration
Economics
A dispute-resolution process where a neutral arbitrator issues a decision (often binding) outside the court system.
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Arc Elasticity
Microeconomics Statistics
An average elasticity measured between two points using the midpoint formula.
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ARFIMA
Econometrics Statistics
An autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average model that captures long memory via fractional differencing.
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Arm's-Length Price
Taxation International Economics
The price unrelated parties would agree to under comparable market conditions.
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Arrears
Credit and Lending Personal Finance
Overdue payments on a contract (rent, mortgage, utilities, child support) after one or more missed due dates.
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Arrow-Debreu Economy
Microeconomics Economics
A general-equilibrium model with complete contingent-commodity markets.
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Arrow-Debreu State Price
Valuation Economics
The current price of one unit of payoff delivered in one specific future state.
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Arrow's Impossibility Theorem
Economics
A result showing that no voting rule can satisfy several appealing fairness conditions at the same time.
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Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
International Economics Economics
A regional forum that promotes trade, investment, and economic cooperation across the Asia-Pacific.
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Asian Financial Crisis (1997–1998)
International Economics Macroeconomics
A regional crisis of capital-flow reversals, currency collapses, and banking distress across several Asian economies.
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Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
Development Economics International Economics
A multilateral development bank that finances infrastructure and related development projects, especially in Asia.
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Assembly Line
Microeconomics
A production system where a product moves through sequential workstations, enabling specialization and high throughput.
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Asset Motive (Speculative Motive for Holding Money)
Macroeconomics Economics
The reason people hold money when they prefer liquidity over interest-bearing assets.
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Asset Prices
Investments Valuation
The market value of claims on future payoffs, shaped by expected cash flows, discount rates, and risk premia.
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Asset Stripping
Corporate Finance Economics
A takeover or restructuring strategy focused on selling valuable assets rather than operating the firm as an integrated business.
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Asset-Backed Security (ABS)
Fixed Income Banking
A security whose cash flows come from a pool of underlying loans or receivables.
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Assets
Accounting Economics
Resources with economic value that can generate future benefits.
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Assisted Area
Development Economics Labor Economics
A region targeted for government support because of persistent economic disadvantage or weak labor-market conditions.
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Asymmetric Information
Microeconomics Economics
A situation in which one side of a transaction knows more relevant information than the other.
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Asymmetric Shocks
Macroeconomics International Economics
Economic shocks that affect regions, sectors, or countries differently rather than uniformly.
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Asymptotic Distribution
Econometrics Statistics
The limiting probability distribution that approximates how a statistic behaves in large samples.
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Asymptotic Theory
Econometrics Statistics
The study of how estimators and test statistics behave as sample size becomes large.
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Atkinson Index
Public Finance Statistics
An inequality measure based on equally distributed equivalent income, with an explicit parameter for inequality aversion.
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Auction
Microeconomics Market Structure
A market mechanism in which price and allocation are determined through bids.
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Auctioneer
Microeconomics Market Structure
The person or institution that runs an auction and enforces its bidding rules.
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Audit
Accounting Economics
An independent review of financial records and controls designed to improve credibility and reduce information problems.
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Auditor
Accounting
A professional (or firm) that examines financial information and controls to provide assurance that financial statements are fairly presented.
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Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test
Econometrics Statistics
A time-series test used to check whether a variable contains a unit root.
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Augmented Phillips Curve
Macroeconomics Economics
A Phillips-curve framework that adds inflation expectations to the inflation-unemployment relationship.
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Austerity Measures
Public Finance Macroeconomics
Policies that reduce budget deficits through lower public spending, higher taxes, or both.
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Autarchy
International Economics Economics
A condition of economic self-sufficiency in which a country relies little or not at all on international trade.
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Authorized Capital (Authorized Share Capital)
Corporate Finance
The maximum share capital a corporation is legally permitted to issue under its charter or governing documents.
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Autocorrelation
Econometrics Statistics
Correlation between a variable and its own lagged values in a time series.
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Autocorrelation Coefficient
Econometrics Statistics
The correlation between a time series and a lagged version of itself.
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Autocorrelation Function (ACF)
Econometrics Statistics
A sequence of correlations between a time series and its own lagged values, used to describe persistence and guide time-series modeling.
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Autocovariance
Econometrics Statistics
Covariance between a time series and its own lagged values.
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Autocovariance Function
Econometrics Statistics
The sequence of autocovariances of a stationary time series across different lags.
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Automated Econometrics
Econometrics Statistics
The use of algorithms to assist with model specification, estimation, testing, and selection in econometric work.
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Automatic Stabilizers
Public Finance Macroeconomics
Built-in features of the fiscal system that soften booms and recessions without new legislation.
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Automation
Labor Economics
Using machines, software, or algorithms to perform tasks with limited human intervention, affecting productivity and labor markets.
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Autonomous Consumption
Macroeconomics
Understanding autonomous consumption - the component of consumption that is independent of current income.
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Autonomous Investment
Macroeconomics Economics
Investment spending that does not depend directly on current income or output.
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Autonomous Pension Funds
Risk Management Economics
Pension funds that are institutionally separate from the sponsoring employer or government budget.
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Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (ARCH)
Econometrics Statistics
A time-series model in which current volatility depends on past squared shocks.
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Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) Model
Econometrics Statistics
A time-series forecasting model that combines autoregression, differencing, and moving-average shocks.
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Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA (p, q)) Model
Econometrics Statistics
A time-series model that combines lagged values of a series with lagged shocks.
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Autoregressive Process
Econometrics Statistics
A time-series process in which current values depend on past values of the same series.
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Average Cost
Microeconomics Economics
Total cost per unit of output.
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Average Cost Pricing
Market Structure Public Finance
Pricing that sets price high enough to cover average total cost.
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Average Earnings Scheme
Risk Management Labor Economics
A pension scheme in which benefits are based on average earnings rather than only final salary.
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Average Tax Rate
Taxation Economics
Total tax paid divided by the total tax base.
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Averch–Johnson Effect
Market Structure Public Finance
A distortion under rate-of-return regulation where firms may choose an inefficiently capital-intensive input mix.
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Avoidable Cost
Microeconomics Economics
A cost that disappears if a product, activity, or decision is not undertaken.
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Avoidance
Taxation Economics
Lawful structuring of behavior or transactions to reduce tax liability.
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Axiom
Economics
A basic assumption accepted without proof and used to build an economic model or theory.
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Axioms of Preference
Microeconomics Economics
Basic assumptions used to describe rational preferences in consumer theory.
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