Question

You and your friends have decided to build a skateboard ramp behind your house. You have already purchased $500 in materials and are considering renting an electric saw. It costs $20/hour to rent an electric saw. You estimate it will take 6 hours to build the ramp. If you decide to use your saw, which is a handsaw, you will not have to pay anything to rent an electric saw, but it will take 15 hours to build the ramp. Regardless of the decision, you will need to ask for time off from your job, which pays $12/hour.
(a) If you use your handsaw, the explicit costs of the ramp are $_____.

(b) The explicit costs of the ramp are $ ____ if you rent an electric saw.

(c) If you use a handsaw, the implicit costs of the ramp are $____.

(d) If you rent an electric saw, the implicit costs of the ramp are $____.

Answer 1

Answer:

(a) $500

(b) $620

(c) $180

(d) $72

Explanation:

Explicit costs refers to the which are incurred during running the business and these costs affects the profitability of the company.

Implicit costs refers to the opportunity cost of selecting some other alternative.

(a) Here, the explicit cost is the cost of purchasing materials = $500

(b) If I rent an electric saw, then the explicit cost is as follows:

= Purchasing cost of material + (Rent × No. of hours to build ramp)

= $500 + ($20 × 6 )

= $500 + $120

= $620

(c) If I use a handsaw, then the implicit cost is as follows:

= Hours to build ramp × A job pays $12 per hour

= 15 × $12

= $180

(d) If I rent an electric saw, then the implicit cost is as follows:

= Hours to build ramp × A job pays $12 per hour

= 6 × $12

= $72