What does 'Economic cost' mean?

Question

What does 'Economic cost' mean?

Answer 1

First we must identify the context where we are talking on because, example, the accountant refer to economic cost for refer to some cost given in value of resources but not showed explicitly in financial statements. By the other side, economist talk about the cost for to know things about the company to take economic decisions.

Answer 2

economic cost is opportunity cost... it is the cost of the next best alternative forgone...

assuming you have $20 and you can either buy a book or a cd and you decide to buy a cd instead of the book so it means book is your opportunity cost because if you hadn't bought the cd you would have bought the book.

Answer 3

It refers to total opportunity cost, the value of the next best alternative given up by making a particular choice.

For example, when one attends college, he/she incurs a $$ cost through the tuition, and also an opportunity cost through the foregone income that he/she could have earned by working immediately rather than attending college.  The "economic cost" includes both aspects.