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AGGLOMERATION: The clustering of several similar or related activities at the same location. Many industries have firms that tend to agglomerate, that is, locate very close to one another, leading to geographic concentration. For example, the motion picture industry is concentrated in California, the fashion industry is concentrated in New York, and the petroleum industry is concentrated in Texas. Agglomeration can be caused by accessibility to a concentrated natural resource (such as petroleum or sunny weather), but if often feeds upon itself through agglomeration economies. Firms in the same industry often have lower production cost when the located near their competitors.
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                           ACCOUNTING COST: An actual outlay or expenses incurred in the production of a good that shows up in a firm's accounting statements and records. Accounting cost is an explicit payment (that is, money changing hands) incurred by a firm. Accounting cost, while very important to accountants, company CEOs, shareholders, and the Internal Revenue Service, is only minimally important to economists. The reason is that economists are more interested in economic cost (also called opportunity cost), which is the value of foregone production. Accounting cost is essentially an out-of-pocket, explicit payment that generally compensates the resources used by a firm for the opportunity cost incurred in production. A worker like Phoebe Pankovic, for example, might be paid $10 an hour to produce Wacky Willy Stuffed Amigos (those cute and cuddly armadillos and tarantulas) to compensate for the $10 worth of other goods she is NOT producing at another job. That is, Phoebe could be producing $10 worth of Hot Momma Fudge Bananarama Ice Cream Sundaes rather than Wacky Willy Stuffed Amigos. This $10 hourly expense is an accounting cost of the firm that is also compensation for the economic cost of the worker.However, an economic cost need not be an accounting cost and vice versa. - Economic Cost, No Accounting Cost: In some cases, the resources used by a firm for production incur an economic cost without an explicit payment showing up on the official accounting records. One of the more important examples, especially when the topic turns to the analysis of short-run production, is normal profit. The entrepreneurs of a firm incur the opportunity cost of foregone profit from another business activity, but this is never considered an accounting cost.
- Accounting Cost, No Economic Cost: Alternatively, an accounting cost incurred by a firm might not be paid as compensation for an economic cost. Suppose for example, that Phoebe Pankovic receives an hourly wage of $10 to produce Wacky Willy Stuffed Amigos. However, her opportunity cost, the value of Hot Momma Fudge Bananarama Ice Cream Sundaes production foregone is only $7. In this case only $7 of the accounting cost corresponds to an economic cost. The remaining $3 is an accounting cost that is not compensation for any economic cost. In effect, this extra $3 is actually part of the economic profit of the firm that is received by the worker rather than the entrepreneurs.
 Recommended Citation:ACCOUNTING COST, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: June 17, 2025]. Check Out These Related Terms... | | | | | Or For A Little Background... | | | | | | | | | | | And For Further Study... | | | | | | | | | | Related Websites (Will Open in New Window)... | | |
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time flipping through mail order catalogs hoping to buy either a rechargeable battery for your computer or shoe laces for your snow boots. Be on the lookout for telephone calls from long-lost relatives. Your Complete Scope
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There were no banks in colonial America before the U.S. Revolutionary War. Anyone seeking a loan did so from another individual.
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"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. " -- Mark Twain, writer
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AAT Association of Accounting Technicians
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