implicit cost


Implicit Cost

The opportunity cost of an activity. Implicit costs are what a company or individual could have earned had a different decision been made. For example, suppose an independent consultant has two clients and she spends some time working on the first client's project. The implicit costs are what the consultant would have made had she worked on the second client's project instead. Implicit costs contrast with explicit costs, which are what someone actually spends on an activity. It is also called an indirect cost.

implicit cost

or

imputed cost

the OPPORTUNITY COST to a FIRM of using resources owned by the firm itself to produce its output. For example, if a firm occupies a building that it owns, it forgoes the opportunity of renting it out for some other use. Thus, implicit costs represent the sacrifice of income that could have been earned by renting out (or selling) the firm's resources to others.

To achieve an accurate measure of the total cost of producing goods or services, the firm must impute a rent to itself using a SHADOW PRICE based upon the current market rates for renting the property See PROFIT, EXPLICIT COST.

implicit cost

or

imputed cost

the OPPORTUNITY COST to a FIRM of using resources owned by the firm itself to produce its output. For example, if a firm occupies a building that it owns, it foregoes the opportunity of renting it out for some other alternative use. Thus, implicit costs represent the sacrifice of income that could have been earned by renting out (or selling) the firm's resources to others.

To achieve an accurate measure of the total cost of producing goods or services, the firm must impute a rent to itself based upon the current market rate for renting the property See PROFIT, EXPLICIT COST, SHADOW PRICE.