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Decision-Making with Mutually Exclusive Alternatives
Definition of Opportunity Cost
Opportunity cost is the value of the next-best alternative that is given up when a particular action is chosen. It represents the benefit you would have received from the forgone option. For example, if the next best alternative to attending a concert is babysitting for a payment of $22, then the opportunity cost of going to the concert is the $22 you could have earned.
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Economics
Economy
Introduction to Microeconomics Course
CORE Econ
Social Science
Empirical Science
Science
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Definition of Opportunity Cost
A software developer has a budget of 1,000. What is the most fundamental economic consequence of choosing to build the new reporting dashboard?
A city council has allocated a specific budget for a single new public works project. They are deciding between building a new public swimming pool or constructing a new community library. Since choosing one project means they cannot build the other with the current budget, these two projects are examples of complementary goods.
Weekend Time Allocation
Learn After
Karim's Dilemma in the Work-Leisure Choice
Consumption as the Opportunity Cost of Free Time
The Work-Leisure Dilemma: Scarcity and Trade-offs
Reservation Option (Fallback Option)
A student has a free Saturday afternoon and is deciding what to do. Their first choice is to attend a football game. If they don't go to the game, their next-best alternative is to work a 4-hour shift at the campus library, earning 40. What is the opportunity cost of attending the football game?
Freelancer's Project Choice
A person decides to spend their evening attending a concert. Their next-best alternative was to work a shift that would have paid them 40. The opportunity cost of attending the concert is $100 (the sum of the values of the two forgone alternatives).