International Trade, Efficiency, and Employment

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to international trade policies, market protection mechanisms, labor dynamics, and operational efficiency.

International trade

The purchase, sale, or exchange of goods and services across national borders.

Free trade

A trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports, applying free market principles to international trade without tariffs, taxes, duties, or quotas.

Protectionism

The economic policy of restraining trade between nations through methods such as tariffs, quotas, and other restrictive regulations to discourage imports and prevent foreign takeover of domestic markets.

Trade barriers

Government laws, regulations, policies, or practices that protect domestic products from foreign competition or artificially stimulate exports of specific domestic products.

Tariff

A duty or tax levied upon goods transported from one customs area to another for protective or revenue purposes, making imported goods less competitive by raising their prices.

Quota

A protectionist restriction on the amount (measured in units or weight) of a good that can enter or leave a country during a specified period of time.

Absolute advantage

The ability of a nation to produce a good more efficiently than any other nation.

Comparative advantage

The inability of a nation to produce a good more efficiently than other nations, but an ability to produce that good more efficiently than it does any other good.

Infant industry

A new industry that in its early stages experiences relative difficulty or is incapable of competing with established foreign competitors.

Strategic industry

An industry essential for the promotion or stabilization of the economic growth of the locality in which it is situated.

Incoterms

Standard trade definitions specifying the responsibilities of buyer and seller regarding marine transportation, including shipping costs, insurance, customs duties, and ground handling.

Copyright

The legal right to control the production and selling of a book, play, film, photograph, piece of music, or other creative work.

Dumping (Dump)

Selling unwanted goods very cheaply, usually in foreign countries.

Generic

A cheaper copy of a product that is not marked with the producer's name.

Subsidize

To pay part of the cost of something.

Trademark

A name or symbol identifying that a product is made by a particular producer, which cannot be legally used by anyone else.

Embargo

A trade protectionist measure banning the trade of a specific good or completely prohibiting trade with a particular country.

Multinational corporation (MNC)

An enterprise or organization that operates facilities and business activities in two or more countries.

Job insecurity

The fear that an individual might lose their job.

Employability

The extent to which an individual possesses skills that employers want.

Downsizing

Decreasing the number of permanent employees working for an organization.

Core

The central, essential part of something, such as a company's permanent workforce.

Efficiency

A situation in which a person, company, or factory uses resources such as time, materials, or labor well, without wasting any.

Rationalization

Making a company or work process more effective, typically by combining or eliminating specific activities, or by reducing personnel to cut costs.

Redundancy package

All the financial payments and benefits provided by a company to employees who have lost their jobs because they are no longer needed.

Restructuring

Organizing a company, business, or system in a new way to reduce costs, enhance profits, and make it operate more effectively.

Delocalization

Relocating some of a business's operational activities (such as accounting or manufacturing) to another place or foreign country.

Casual work

Temporary employment that is irregular, non-permanent, and not fixed.

Contract work

Temporary employment engaged by an organization specifically to complete a designated project or piece of work.

Job sharing

An employment arrangement where two or more individuals work on a part-time basis to perform a job normally held by a single full-time employee.

Delayering

The removal of unproductive levels in the management hierarchy to increase organizational flexibility and operational efficiency.

Outsourcing (Contracting-out)

Using third-party businesses as subcontractors to supply required components, functions, or services.

Rightsizing

An alternative term for downsizing, which can also include expanding an organization's size to correct the effects of a previous downsizing.

Flexible labour market

An employment environment where companies can easily recruit, hire, and release non-permanent staff.

Business efficiency

A metric of how well a business transforms inputs such as materials, labor, and capital into revenue-generating goods and services relative to the time and funds utilized.