7.1 : 매몰비용과 기회비용

Opportunity cost is the benefit a firm misses out on when choosing one option over another.

For instance, if a company spends $100,000 on advanced computers, the opportunity cost is what they could have done with that money, like investing in marketing or research.

Sunk costs are expenses that have already been paid and cannot be recovered, such as salaries, insurance, rent, nonrefundable deposits, or repairs.

For example, if a software company invests $500,000 in developing new software but later realizes it won't be successful, the money already spent is a sunk cost.

Many businesses fall into the sunk cost fallacy, a psychological barrier that ties people to failing projects because they've invested resources into them.

For example, if a software company keeps spending money to salvage a project instead of cutting its losses, it may fall into this trap.

If the company knows the project will not succeed, the rational choice is to stop funding the project.