Sunk cost

"Sunk Costs" redirects here. For the Better Call Saul episode, see Sunk Costs (Better Call Saul).

In economics and business decision-making, a sunk cost (also known as retrospective cost) is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered.[1][2] Sunk costs are contrasted with prospective costs, which are future costs that may be avoided if action is taken.[3] In other words, a sunk cost is a sum paid in the past that is no longer relevant to decisions about the future. Even though economists argue that sunk costs are no longer relevant to future rational decision-making, people in everyday life often take previous expenditures in situations, such as repairing a car or house, into their future decisions regarding those properties.

  1. ^ Mankiw, N. Gregory (2009). Principles of Microeconomics (5th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning. pp. 296–297. ISBN 978-1-111-80697-2.
  2. ^ Mankiw, N. Gregory (2018). Principles of Economics (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. pp. 274–276. ISBN 978-1-305-58512-6.
  3. ^ Warnacut, Joyce I. (2017). The Monetary Value of Time: Why Traditional Accounting Systems Make Customers Wait. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-4987-4967-1.