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No, opportunity cost is not the same as marginal cost, since opportunity cost represent the expected utility loss from the highest-valued alternative given-up for an action. In this case, that not only includes marginal costs, but also fixed costs and marginal benefits foregone.

Marginal cost is the cost of producing an additional widget when you're already producing several of them. This must cover direct costs such as wages and direct overheads, but can ignore return on capital and other fixed costs.

Opportunity cost is the hypothetical loss that we would incur should we not proceed with a particular investment.

We could buy a painting in the expectation that it would rise in value. That is the value of that opportunity. If we instead to invest in widgets, the returns from them are real.

In either case, we can only buy one of the items, and the hypothetical loss from forgoing the other item is the opportunity cost of the course we chose.

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Q: Is opportunity cost is the same as marginal cost?
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Is Marginal cost the same as opportunity cost?

No. Marginal cost is the added cost of producing one more of something. This type of cost is real and concrete; it actually has monetary value. Opportunity cost is more theoretical. It measures the amount of money / products that could have been made in places other than the job you are currently in. This is very similar to implicit costs.


What is marginal opportunity cost?

first and foremost,to ecomists,'marginal' means "extra","additional",or'a change in'.so marginal opportunity cost means additional or extra amount of other goods that must be foregone or sacrifised to produce an extra unit of another product


What does increasing marginal opportunity cost mean?

As we decide to choose more units of anything, the opportunity cost of each additional unit will rise. This means that the opportunity cost of the second unit will be greater than that of the first unit. The opportunity cost of the third unit will be greater than that of the second unit. And so forththe law of opportunity cost states that the more of a product that is produced,the greater is its opportunity cost,hence increasing marginal opportunity cost in simple terms refers to an extra or additional opportunity cost of foregoing other products to produce a unit of another product


Where is opportunity cost on a production possibility frontier?

The opportunity cost would be the slope of the PPF. So the opportunity cost of the good on the x axis is in terms of the good on the y axis. This is why we would say a PPF demonstrates increasing marginal opportunity cost when it is curved outward


If fixed cost do not change then the marginal cost?

Contrast to what we would normally think, changes in fixed costs do not affect marginal cost. For example, if a product costs $10 to produce, and the fixed cost goes up to $25, then marginal cost stays the same.

Related questions

What is the difference between opportunity cost and marginal cost?

opportunity cost refers to the satisfaction of ones want at the expense of another want while marginal cost is the addition to total cost as a result of increasing output by one unit.


Is Marginal cost the same as opportunity cost?

No. Marginal cost is the added cost of producing one more of something. This type of cost is real and concrete; it actually has monetary value. Opportunity cost is more theoretical. It measures the amount of money / products that could have been made in places other than the job you are currently in. This is very similar to implicit costs.


What is marginal opportunity cost?

first and foremost,to ecomists,'marginal' means "extra","additional",or'a change in'.so marginal opportunity cost means additional or extra amount of other goods that must be foregone or sacrifised to produce an extra unit of another product


What does increasing marginal opportunity cost mean?

As we decide to choose more units of anything, the opportunity cost of each additional unit will rise. This means that the opportunity cost of the second unit will be greater than that of the first unit. The opportunity cost of the third unit will be greater than that of the second unit. And so forththe law of opportunity cost states that the more of a product that is produced,the greater is its opportunity cost,hence increasing marginal opportunity cost in simple terms refers to an extra or additional opportunity cost of foregoing other products to produce a unit of another product


Where is opportunity cost on a production possibility frontier?

The opportunity cost would be the slope of the PPF. So the opportunity cost of the good on the x axis is in terms of the good on the y axis. This is why we would say a PPF demonstrates increasing marginal opportunity cost when it is curved outward


What is marginal opportunity?

first and foremost,to ecomists,'marginal' means "extra","additional",or'a change in'.so marginal opportunity cost means additional or extra amount of other goods that must be foregone or sacrifised to produce an extra unit of another product


What is the difference between marginal benefits and marginal costs?

The term marginal cost refers to the oppurtunity cost associated with producing one more additional unit of a good. Opportunity cost is a critical concept to economics - it refers to the value of the highest value alternative opportunity. For example, in examining the marginal cost of producing one more bushel of wheat, that number could be expressed as the dollar value of corn or other goods that could be produced in lieu of more wheat. Marginal benefit refers to what people are willing to give up in order to obtain one more unit of a good, while marginal cost refers to the value of what is given up in order to produce that additional unit. Additional units of a good should be produced as long as marginal benefit exceeds marginal cost. It would be inefficient to produce goods when the marginal benefit is less than the marginal cost. Therefore an efficient level of product is achieved when marginal benefit is equal to marginal cost.


If fixed cost do not change then the marginal cost?

Contrast to what we would normally think, changes in fixed costs do not affect marginal cost. For example, if a product costs $10 to produce, and the fixed cost goes up to $25, then marginal cost stays the same.


When a firm's marginal revenues are higher than its marginal cost?

Marginal cost is


If you have total cost and total benefit how do you get marginal cost and marginal benefit?

Marginal cost is total cost/quantity Marginal benefit is total benefit/quantity


How do you find marginal average cost?

Marginal cost comes from the costs of producing just one more of something.


What is the differences between standard cost and marginal cost?

The main difference between standard cost and marginal cost is that in standard cost a target is set and in marginal cost there is no target set. Marginal cost is the change of the total cost due to the quantity produced.