Opportunity Costs

question 42

Essay

Opportunity Costs. Three University of Florida engineering students are considering operating a mobile car clinic in Gainesville, Florida, during their summer break. This is an alternative to summer employment stacking plastic cups at a local injection molding manufacturer where they would earn $10,000 each over the three-month summer period. A van equipped for such service can be leased at a cost of $5,000 for the summer from an owner taking a long vacation in the Bahamas. Additional projected costs are $2,500 for insurance, and $5 per service call for materials and supplies. Their service calls would be priced at $30 per unit, plus any parts costs (parts will not be inventoried, but purchased from local parts outlets).
A. What is the accounting cost function for this business (ignoring parts)?
B. What is the economic cost function for this business?
C. What is the economic breakeven number of units for this operation? (Assume a $30 price and ignore interest costs associated with the timing of the lease payments.)

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Definitions:

Incentive Salience

The attribute of a stimulus that makes it stand out as particularly attractive or desirable, often influencing motivation and behavior.

Associative Learning

A learning process by which a subject comes to associate stimuli or behaviors with certain outcomes.

Drug Addiction

A chronic disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences, altering brain function and behavior.

Glutamate Agonists

Substances that mimic the action of glutamate, a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, and can therefore enhance its activity.