Economics Glossary: H - FreeEconHelp.com, Learning Economics... Solved!

4/1/12

Economics Glossary: H

Heckscher-Ohlin theorem – A theory that explains why a country has a comparative advantage based on its endowments of the factors of production.  It argues that a country will have a comparative advantage in a certain good or service if factors of production used to produce that good are service are relatively abundant in the country and they are used intensively in the production process.

Herfindahl-Hirschman Index – The percentage market share squared of each firm summed over the 50 largest firms within a market.  The higher the number the more oligopolistic the market is because few firms have a relatively large percentage, but if each firms market share is small, the resulting Herfindahl-Hirschman Index will be small.
Household production – The production of goods and services within the home.

Households – The agents in the economy that consume goods and services and supply the factors of production.

Human capital – The knowledge and skill that people obtain from education, training and experience.   

Human capital is believed to make people more productive and is sometimes considered a factor of production alongside physical capital. 
 
Hyperinflation – A period of large increases in the overall price level, generally increasing at a rate over 10X annually.