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FINANCIAL DICTIONARY & GLOSSARY: PA - PO
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payroll - a complete list of all a company's employees, with details of how much they earn.

pay scales - the different rates of pay established for different categories of worker.

peak - the highest point on the business cycle; to reach the highest point.

peg - to fix the value of a currency against something else (another currency or a precious metal).

pension - a regular sum of money paid to a retired worker in return for past services or contributions.

pension fund - financial institution that invests workers' pension contributions, and pays them pensions on retirement.

perceived value pricing - considers customers' perceptions of price in relation to quality, durability, service, etc.

perfect competition - exists when there are a large number of sellers and buyers, freedom to enter and leave markets, a complete flow of information, etc.

permanent assets - see fixed assets.

personal selling - the presentation of goods or services to potential customers by sales representatives.

petrodollars - dollar deposits in the banking system coming from rich, oil-producing nations.

Phillips Curve - used to be thought to demonstrate a trade-off (exchange) between unemployment and inflation.

piecework - a method of paying workers according to the quantity of articles or pieces they produce.

planned economy or command economy - one in which economic decisions (supply, prices, etc.) are made by the government rather than by market forces.

plant - collective word for factories and the machinery inside them.

poison pill - a defense against a raider: taking action which makes the company less attractive.

policy - contract by which the insurer agrees to pay the insured a certain sum of money if or when certain stated events happen; plans determining a government or firm's actions.

portfolio - the total of an investor's different investments.

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