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BUDGET PROPORTION: One of three elasticity determinants (time period and substitute availability are the other two) stating that the elasticity of a good tends to be greater when the proportion of the budget devoting to the good is greater. In other words, the price elasticity of demand for housing (which takes up a sizeable portion of most budgets) is greater than that for a pair of socks (which does not take up much of most budgets). Even small percentage changes in goods that constitute a sizeable share of income can be quite large in absolute terms. As such, buyers tend to more sensitive to price changes in big-budget expenditures. This elasticity determinant works primarily for the price elasticity of demand.
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                           VARIABLE COST: In general, cost that changes with changes in the quantity of output produced. More specifically, variable cost is combined with the adjectives "total" and "average" to indicate the overall level of variable cost or the per unit variable cost. Variable cost depends on the amount produced. If there is no production, then there is no variable cost. Variable cost is cost that depends on the quantity produced. If production is greater, then variable cost is greater. Variable cost is affected by short-run production principles, especially the law of diminishing marginal returns.Variable InputsVariable cost usually includes the cost of using variable inputs, assorted resources that are variable in the short run, especially labor and material inputs. However, in practice, variable cost includes any and all cost that varies with the quantity of output.For example, Waldo's TexMex Taco World operates in the short run with labor (the workers) as a variable input and capital (the restaurant and equipment) as a fixed input. In this case, the cost associated with labor is a prime candidate to be a variable cost. This includes hourly wage payments to the workers and any fringe benefits paid on behalf of the workers. While labor is usually isolated as THE variable input in the short run, most short-run production has other variable inputs, too. Waldo's TexMex Taco World undoubtedly has an assortment of other variable inputs, all of which are part of variable cost--including meat, lettuce, sour cream, and jalapenos that make up the tacos; paper napkins, packaging material, and plastic utensils that customers use when consuming the tacos; and electricity and other energy sources needed to prepare the tacos. When Waldo's make more tacos, they incur a greater cost for these inputs. Total and AverageThe two most common manifestations of variable cost are total variable cost and average variable cost.- Total Variable Cost: This is the total amount of variable cost incurred in the production of a good. It combines all variable opportunity cost.
- Average Variable Cost: This is the per unit variable cost, which is calculated by dividing total variable cost by the quantity of output produced.
Recommended Citation:VARIABLE COST, AmosWEB Encyclonomic WEB*pedia, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2025. [Accessed: July 15, 2025].
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Today, you are likely to spend a great deal of time watching infomercials trying to buy either a birthday greeting card for your grandfather or a weathervane with a cow on top. Be on the lookout for neighborhood pets, especially belligerent parrots.
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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 time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining." -- John F. Kennedy, 35th U. S. president
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GATT
General Agreementon Tariffs and Trade
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