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Regarding Brother Paul and the opportunity cost the monastery supports for having him in charge of the surveillance of the bridge’s toll. First is important to remind the definition of O.C:
Is the benefit foregone from not using a good or resource in its best alternative use. Therefore if there is no better alternative, there is no Opportunity Cost.
But according to Brother Phillip, this isn’t the case. Clearly, one may infer that part of the O.C we are trying to identify, is compounded by the boost in the granary production, given Brother Paul could apply his experience and that he would develop the task with more joy than a younger Brother with more energy, who at the same time could also dedicate himself to someother diligence -where he could be more productive- such as plowing, etc.
From the individual -Brother Paul’s- perspective, the calculation of the opportunity cost will be different, given that Labor has a negative direct impact on his utility (generates disutility to him). What he will be comparing then, will be how many hours of work he will contribute, keeping in mind he will always want to work less for more compensation. Moreover, the returns he obtains for working is an indirect impact (Benefit).
One can’t always trust his intuition.
By Laura M. Gonzalez
From Ken Follet’s book “The pillars of the Earth”, I would like to introduce this famous but at the same time regularly bad utilized concept: “The Opportunity Cost”.
Brother Philip (the monk in charge of the Kingsbridge’s Cell), thinks to itself : The brother Paul has dedicated all his life to serve God and the monastery, and now at the end of his path, he had to suffer the pain and the cold of watching the bridge’s toll, only for a few pennies per day. That is not only mean but a completely waste, an old and patient man could develop a more productive task such as taking care of the granary, thus this would represent a greater profit to the monastery.
Try to identify the Opportunity Cost of designating brother Paul to take care of the bridge pass.
By Laura M. Gonzalez
