What is the law of increasing opportunity cost?

Economics Production Possibility Frontier Questions Medium



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What is the law of increasing opportunity cost?

The law of increasing opportunity cost states that as the production of one good increases, the opportunity cost of producing an additional unit of that good also increases. This is due to the fact that resources are not equally suited for the production of all goods. As more resources are allocated to the production of a particular good, resources that are better suited for the production of other goods are being diverted, resulting in a higher opportunity cost. In other words, the more a society specializes in the production of a specific good, the greater the opportunity cost of producing additional units of that good. This law is represented by the concave shape of the production possibility frontier (PPF) curve, which illustrates the trade-offs between the production of different goods.