Linked from

The 11 pages that link to Sunk cost, each with the reason it gives.

• Opportunity costCompared with: Unlike opportunity cost, a sunk cost concerns an irreversible past expense, not a forgone alternative.

• Capital budgetingRelated: Past spending should not determine whether a project’s remaining costs and benefits justify continuing.

• Marginal costCompared with: Sunk expenditures should not determine whether producing one more unit is worthwhile.

• Vendor lock-inRelated: Training and integration investments can discourage departure despite being unrecoverable.

• Marginal analysisCompared with: It should not affect a forward-looking comparison of the costs and benefits of changing course.

• Financial return on investmentRelated: Including sunk costs in forward-looking decisions can distort an ROI-based choice.

• Fixed costCompared with: A fixed cost is not automatically sunk; avoidability depends on the decision and timing.

• Variable costCompared with: Variable costs matter to future choices, while sunk costs do not.

• Pyramid schemeRelated: Participants may keep paying fees to avoid admitting that earlier scheme costs are lost.

• Cost curveCompared with: Unlike forward-looking marginal costs, it should not determine an incremental output choice.

• Business economicsRelated: Treating sunk costs as irrelevant prevents past spending from distorting future business choices.