U
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Utility | In economics, utility refers to the satisfaction or pleasure derived from consuming goods and services. It is a measure of the happiness or well-being an individual gains from the consumption of a particular item. |
| Unemployment Rate | The percentage of the labor force that is unemployed and actively seeking employment. It is a key indicator of the health of the labor market. |
| Underemployment | A situation where workers are employed in jobs that do not fully utilize their skills, qualifications, or availability. It includes part-time workers seeking full-time employment and workers with skills below their job requirements. |
| Usury | The charging of excessive or unlawfully high interest rates on loans, often considered exploitative and unethical. Usury laws vary by jurisdiction and aim to protect borrowers from unfair lending practices. |
| Underground Economy | Also known as the informal or shadow economy, it consists of economic activities that are not regulated or reported to government authorities. Transactions in the underground economy often go unrecorded and untaxed. |
| Utility Maximization | The economic principle that individuals seek to allocate their resources in a way that maximizes their satisfaction or well-being, given their preferences and constraints. |
| Unintended Consequences | The unexpected and often undesirable outcomes that result from an action or policy decision. In economics, policymakers must consider potential unintended consequences when implementing economic measures. |
| Utility Function | A mathematical representation of an individual’s preferences for various combinations of goods and services. Utility functions help economists analyze consumer choices and behavior. |
| Underwriting | The process of evaluating and assessing the risk associated with insuring or providing financial services to an individual, business, or entity. Underwriting helps determine insurance premiums and loan terms. |
| Unsecured Loan | A loan not backed by collateral or assets. Unsecured loans rely on the borrower’s creditworthiness and promise to repay the loan based on their financial stability. |
| Uptick Rule | A securities market regulation that restricts short selling by allowing it only on an uptick (when the last trade was higher than the previous one). The rule aims to prevent excessive downward pressure on stock prices. |
| Utility Patent | A type of intellectual property protection granted to inventors for new and useful inventions, processes, machines, or compositions of matter. Utility patents provide exclusive rights for a specified period. |
| Uniform Commercial Code | A comprehensive set of laws governing commercial transactions in the United States. The UCC provides a standardized framework for business transactions, contracts, and the sale of goods. |
| Unilateral Trade Agreement | A trade agreement between two countries where one party grants preferential trade terms to the other without receiving the same in return. It is a one-sided concession. |
| Unearned Income | Income received without performing any associated work or service. Examples include dividends, interest, and rent. |
| Unfunded Liability | A financial obligation for which there is not enough set aside to cover the expected future payments. Commonly used in the context of pension plans and social security systems. |
| Usury Laws | Legal restrictions on the maximum interest rates that lenders can charge on loans. Usury laws vary by jurisdiction and are designed to protect borrowers from exploitative lending practices. |
| Unanimity Rule | A decision-making rule that requires the unanimous agreement of all participants for a decision to be made. It is often used in voting systems and negotiations. |
| Unilateral Contract | A legal agreement where one party makes a promise in exchange for the performance of a specific act by the other party. Once the act is performed, the contract is considered binding. |
| Utility Patent | A type of intellectual property protection granted to inventors for new and useful inventions, processes, machines, or compositions of matter. Utility patents provide exclusive rights for a specified period. |
| Underdevelopment | Poor countries can be prevented from progressing through the stages of economic development by barriers such as specialization in natural resources, an overdependence on foreign investment, and an inability to stimulate higher-value manufacturing and services industries. |
| Underemployment | Working at a job for which one is overqualified, or working part-time when full-time work is desired. |
| Unemployment | Individuals who would like to be employed, and are actively seeking work, but cannot find a job, are considered “officially” unemployed. Individuals who are not working, but not actively looking for work, are considered to be outside of the labour force, and hence don’t count as “officially” unemployed. |
| Unemployment Rate | The number of unemployed people measured as a proportion of the labour force. |
| Unions | Organizations of working people which aim to bargain collectively with employers in order to enhance workers’ bargaining power, raise wages, and regulate working conditions. |
| Unit Labour Cost | How much an employer pays for the labour required to produce each unit of a good or service. Unit labour cost can be calculated by dividing a worker’s hourly (or annual) labour cost, by the amount (in physical units or value terms) that they produce during that hour (or year). It is thus the ratio of labour costs to productivity. Companies try to reduce their unit labour cost, either by increasing productivity (the denominator) or by reducing labour costs (the numerator). |
| Unit of Account | Unit of account in economics allows a somewhat meaningful interpretation of prices, costs, and profits, so that an entity can monitor its own performance. It allows shareholders to make sense of its past performance and have an idea of its future profitability. |
| Unskilled Labour | Labour that requires no specialized skills, education, or training to perform. |
| Urban Economics | Urban economics is broadly the economic study of urban areas; as such, it involves using the tools of economics to analyze urban issues such as crime, education, public transit, housing, and local government finance. More specifically, it is a branch of microeconomics that studies urban spatial structure and the location of households and firms. |
| User Fees | A form of tax in which the users of public services are charged a specified fee to cover some or all of the cost of providing that service. |
| Utilitarianism | Utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different characterizations, the basic idea behind all of them is to in some sense maximize utility, which is often defined in terms of well-being or related concepts. |
| Utility | The usefulness of a good or service in satisfying a need or a want. |