International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

E-ISSN: 2582-2160   •   Impact Factor: 9.24

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 8, Issue 3 (May-June 2026) Submit your research before last 3 days of June to publish your research paper in the issue of May-June.
Submit Research Paper Join as a Reviewer

Plagiarism is checked by the leading plagiarism checker TurnItIn

Call for Paper

Volume 8 Issue 3
May-June 2026

Submit your research paper

Indexing Partners
Academia Advanced Sciences Index Bielefeld Academic Search Engine CiteSeer DRJI Google Scholar Independent Search Engine & Directory Network ISI (International Scientific Indexing) Issuu Mendeley Research Networks
RefSeek ResearcherId - Thomson Reuters ResearchGate Scirus Scribd Semantic Scholar UTeM - Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka Wiki for Call for Papers WorldCat Zenodo

Opportunity Cost in Everyday Decisions of College Students

Author(s) Ms. P. R. Shivani, Mrs. M. Priya
Country India
Abstract Opportunity cost — the value of the next best alternative foregone when any decision is made — is among the most foundational principles of microeconomic theory, yet its practical significance in everyday life is frequently underappreciated. For college students, who operate under persistent constraints of time, money, and energy, nearly every consequential decision carries an implicit trade-off. This paper investigates how undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu, India, perceive and navigate opportunity costs in two critical domains: time management and financial decision-making. Drawing on a descriptive research design, primary data were collected from 120 student respondents using a structured Likert-scale questionnaire. The study is theoretically grounded in Rational Choice Theory, Becker's Human Capital Theory and Time Allocation Theory, and Kahneman's framework of bounded rationality. Findings reveal that a large majority of respondents demonstrate an intuitive awareness of trade-offs — particularly in planning daily schedules and evaluating spending decisions — though this awareness does not always translate into optimally rational behaviour. The paper concludes with recommendations for institutional strategies to strengthen opportunity cost reasoning, financial literacy, and time management skills among college students.
Keywords Opportunity Cost, Trade-Off, Time Management, Financial Decision-Making, Rational Choice, Human Capital Theory, Bounded Rationality, College Students
Field Mathematics > Economy / Commerce
Published In Volume 8, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On 2026-05-16
View / Download PDF File

Share this



E-ISSN 2582-2160
CrossRef

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads
Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 3Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA Open Access

About IJFMR
Fees & Payment
Current Issue
Publication Archive 		Submit Research Paper
Track Submission Status
Publication Guidelines
Publication Ethics
Peer Review & Plagiarism 		Join as a Reviewer
Editors & Reviewers
Reviewer Referral Program
Get Reviewer Membership Certi. 		Website/Journal Policies
Usage Policy
Content Policies
Privacy Policy
Contact Us +91-9687-828-838 editor@ijfmr.com
Powered by Sky Research Publication and Journals