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TOTAL PRODUCT: The total quantity of output produced by a firm for a given quantity of inputs. Total product is the foundation upon which the analysis of short-run production for a firm is analyzed. The usual framework is to analyze total product when in a variable input (labor) changes, for a given amount of a fixed input (capital). Two related concepts derived from total product are average product and marginal product.

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IMPORTS LINE:

A graphical depiction of the relation between imports bought from the foreign sector and the domestic economy's aggregate level of income or production. This relation is most important for deriving the net exports line, which plays a minor, but growing role in the study of Keynesian economics. An imports line is characterized by vertical intercept, which indicates autonomous imports, and slope, which is the marginal propensity to import and indicates induced imports. The aggregate expenditures line used in Keynesian economics is derived by adding or stacking the net exports line, derived as the difference between the exports line and imports line, onto the consumption line, after adding investment expenditures and government purchases.
The imports line shows the relation between imports purchased from the foreign sector and aggregate income or production. The income and production measures most commonly used are national income and gross domestic product. The purpose of the imports line is to graphically illustrate the imports-income relation for the foreign sector, which is then used to derive the net exports line by vertically subtracting it from the exports line, after which it is then integrated into the aggregate expenditures line used in Keynesian economics.

Net exports are the difference between exports and imports, or exports minus imports. Exports are purchases of domestic production by the foreign sector and imports are purchases of foreign production by the domestic economy. While exports are totally autonomous, imports are induced by the level of domestic income and production. Reflecting this, the imports line is positively-sloped, with the slope equal to the marginal propensity to import (MPM). The vertical intercept, or Y-intercept, of the imports line is then autonomous imports.

Imports Line
Imports Line
The positively-sloped red line, labeled M in the exhibit to the right, indicates a typical imports line. Line any straight line, this imports line is characterized by two key parameters, intercept and slope. The intercept indicates autonomous imports and the slope indicates induced imports.

Identifying numbers for these two parameters for this particular line indicates that the intercept is $0, meaning autonomous imports is $0, and the slope is 0.075, meaning a $1 increase in domestic income or production induces a $0.075 increase in imports. In this particular case, the imports line has a zero intercept, indicating no autonomous imports, but that need not be the case. Most notable is that the slope of the imports line is the marginal propensity to import (MPM).

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Recommended Citation:

IMPORTS LINE, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 18, 2025].


Check Out These Related Terms...

     | induced net exports | autonomous net exports | induced imports | autonomous exports | marginal propensity to import | slope, net exports line | intercept, net exports line | consumption line | saving line | investment line | government purchases line |


Or For A Little Background...

     | net exports | net exports of goods and services | imports | exports | Keynesian economics | macroeconomics | foreign sector | national income | gross domestic product |


And For Further Study...

     | induced expenditures | autonomous expenditures | aggregate expenditures | aggregate expenditures line | derivation, consumption line | net exports determinants | Keynesian model | Keynesian equilibrium | injections-leakages model | aggregate demand | paradox of thrift | fiscal policy | multiplier | government functions |


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