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 of produced. If there is no production, then there is no variable cost. See also | total variable cost | average variable cost | total cost | fixed cost | opportunity cost | quantity | variable input | fixed input | firm | short run | input |
