Share This Article:

Economic Definition of opportunity cost. Defined.

Offline Version: PDF

Term opportunity cost Definition: The highest valued alternative foregone in the pursuit of an activity. This is a hallmark of anything dealing with economics--and life for that matter--because any action that you take prevents you from doing something else. The ultimate source of opportunity cost is the pervasive problem of scarcity (unlimited wants and needs, but limited resources). Whenever limited resources are used to satisfy one want or need, there are an unlimited number of other wants and needs that remain unsatisfied. Herein lies the essence of opportunity cost. Doing one thing prevents doing another.

 

« operating statement | production possibilities opportunity cost »

Permalink: https://glossary.econguru.com/economic-term/opportunity+cost

Alphabetical Reference to Over 2,000 Economic Terms