A quota is a prescribed number or share of something.
In common language, especially in business, a quota is a time-measured goal for production or achievement. An assembly line worker might have a quota for the number of products made; a salesperson might have a quota to meet for weekly sales; a police officer might have a quota for tickets issued or arrests made. In trade, a quota is a form of protectionism used to restrict the import of something to a specific quantity (Sawyer & Sprinkle, International Economics, 2nd Edition , 2003, p 157). The number of cars imported from Japan may have a quota of 50,000 vehicles per annum to protect auto manufacturers in the United States.
In proportional representation, a quota is a lowerbound on the number of votes needed to be elected. There are a number of such schemes:
In computing:
In affirmative action:
In immigration:
In IMF