AVERAGE COST: The opportunity cost incurred per unit in the production of a good. This can be calculated by dividing the total cost of production by the quantity of output produced. While average cost is a general term relating cost and the quantity of output, three more specific average cost terms that are worth a closer look are average total cost, average variable cost, and average fixed cost. As long as you're looking into cost, you might want to spend a little time with the most important member of the cost family of terms, marginal cost.

     See also | opportunity cost | production | good | quantity | average total cost | average variable cost | average fixed cost | total cost | marginal cost |

AVERAGE COST, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2024. [Accessed: April 19, 2024].

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A perfectly competitive firm's supply curve is that portion of its marginal cost curve that lies above the minimum of the average variable cost curve. A perfectly competitive firm maximizes profit by producing the quantity of output that equates price and marginal cost. As such, the firm moves along its positively-sloped marginal cost curve in response to changing prices.

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