--%>

What is the opportunity cost of your decision

Suppose you arrive at a store expecting to pay $100 for an item, but learn that a store two miles away is charging $50 for it.  Would you drive there and buy it?  How does your decision benefit you?  What is the opportunity cost of your decision?  Now suppose you arrive at a store expecting to pay $6000 for an item, but learn that it costs $5950 at the other store.  Do you make the same decision as before? Perhaps surprisingly, you should!  Explain why.

E

Expert

Verified

Driving to the other store to save $50 does involve some cost in terms of time and inconvenience.  However, for most of us the time it takes to drive two miles would be worth $50.  For example, if it takes about ten minutes extra time and a negligible amount of gasoline (unless your time is worth $300 an hour, or $50 per each ten-minute period), it would benefit you to drive to the other store.  While in the second case, $50 may seem like less compared to the $6000 total price, for you the $50 is still a $50 savings, exactly the same as in the first case.  Therefore, you should apply the same reasoning.  Is the $50 benefit from driving the extra two miles worth the cost?  The conclusion should be the same in both cases.

   Related Questions in Business Economics

  • Q : Describe the duty of bondholders in a

    Describe the duty of bondholders in a bond?

  • Q : Exploit consumers in highly competitive

    This is difficult for firms within highly competitive markets to exploit consumers since: (i) consumer advocates organize boycotts that generate bad publicity. (ii) market pressures force fair distributions of products. (iii) the government sets price

  • Q : Symptoms of governmental interference-

    Adam Smith and the “typical liberal” economists who followed within his footsteps viewed persistent monopolization and market power as: (1) ineffective and best regulated through government. (2) crucial in finding the rate of technological

  • Q : Reduce price differences by arbitrage

    When government intervention is not present, than arbitrage: (w) will reduce price differences when similar good sells at various prices within separate markets. (x) results into economic losses for traders. (y) causes high economic profits for mercha

  • Q : Comparative Advantage of free trade

    According to the advocates of free trade and World Trade Organization, each and every country potentially advantages from trade liberalization and the lowering of tariffs since each and every country: (1) Has a comparative benefit in something. (2) Ga

  • Q : Describe Traditional approach of

    Briefly describe Traditional approach of capital structure?

  • Q : Elucidate the use of money as a medium

    Elucidate the use of money as a medium of exchange in Market System?

  • Q : In long-run equilibrium earning of zero

    When, in a perfectly competitive industry, where the market price facing a firm is above its average total cost on the output here marginal revenue equivalents marginal cost, in that

  • Q : Single seller not sell at a price lower

    An individual seller within perfect competition will not sell at a price lower than the market price since: w) demand for the product will exceed supply.  x) the seller would begin a price war. y) the seller can sell any quantity she desires at the prevailing mar

  • Q : Illustrate how Microeconomics looks at

    Illustrate how Microeconomics looks at specific economic units?