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Profit

Profit is the surplus generated when the revenue from selling goods or services exceeds the total costs of production, including both explicit monetary outlays and implicit opportunity costs, serving as a key measure of economic efficiency and value creation in market systems.^[1]^[2] Economic profit, distinct from accounting profit—which deducts only explicit costs such as wages, materials, and taxes—accounts for forgone alternatives, revealing whether resources are allocated to their highest-valued uses.^[3]^[4] In competitive markets, profits incentivize innovation, risk-taking, and efficient resource deployment by signaling demand and rewarding producers who deliver superior value relative to alternatives, thereby driving overall economic expansion and consumer welfare.^[5]^[6]^[7] While supernormal profits can attract entry and spur competition, their persistence often reflects temporary advantages in productivity or barriers overcome through entrepreneurship, rather than systemic extraction.^[8]

Economics

Definition

In economics, profit represents the residual surplus after deducting all production costs from total revenue generated by an entity's outputs. This surplus signals the efficiency of resource use, where costs include both explicit outlays (such as payments for labor, materials, and capital) and implicit opportunity costs (the forgone returns from alternative uses of those resources).^[1]^[2] Economic profit, the standard metric in economic analysis, is thus calculated as total revenue minus the sum of explicit and implicit costs, yielding a value that reflects true value creation beyond mere cash flows.^[9]^[10] Accounting profit, by contrast, subtracts only explicit costs from revenue, as reported in financial statements under standards like Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which emerged in the U.S. during the 1930s to standardize business reporting post-Great Depression.^[3] This measure, while useful for tax and regulatory purposes, overstates profitability by ignoring opportunity costs; for instance, a firm earning $100,000 in revenue with $80,000 explicit costs reports $20,000 accounting profit, but if implicit costs (e.g., owner's forgone salary of $25,000) exceed that, economic profit is negative at -$5,000.^[4] Economic profit thus provides a more rigorous gauge of long-term viability, as zero economic profit equates to normal returns sufficient to retain resources in their current use, while positive economic profit attracts competition and negative values drive exit.^[8]^[11]

Types of Profit

In economics, profit is categorized primarily into accounting profit and economic profit, with further distinctions such as normal and supernormal profits derived from the latter.^[3]^[4] Accounting profit represents total revenue minus explicit costs, including wages, rent, materials, and depreciation, as reported on financial statements.^[3]^[4] It measures monetary inflows net of observable outflows but excludes non-monetary opportunity costs.^[12] Economic profit, in contrast, subtracts both explicit costs and implicit costs—such as forgone earnings from alternative investments or the owner's time—from total revenue.^[3]^[4]^[12] This metric assesses whether a firm generates returns exceeding the opportunity cost of capital and resources, providing a benchmark for long-term viability.^[3] Positive economic profit signals efficient resource use beyond alternatives, while negative values indicate subpar performance relative to other options.^[4] Normal profit occurs when economic profit equals zero, meaning revenues exactly cover all explicit and implicit costs, including a competitive return on invested capital.^[8]^[13] In competitive markets, firms earn normal profit in long-run equilibrium, as entry and exit of competitors erode excess returns.^[13] Supernormal profit, also termed abnormal or excess profit, arises when economic profit exceeds zero, typically due to barriers to entry, innovation, or temporary market advantages like patents.^[14]^[13] For instance, a firm with a unique technology might sustain supernormal profits until imitation occurs, incentivizing investment but attracting competition.^[14] These distinctions underscore that accounting profit may overstate true economic performance by ignoring alternatives, as evidenced in analyses where firms report positive accounting profits yet negative economic profits due to high opportunity costs in booming sectors.^[12]^[3] Empirical studies, such as those on U.S. manufacturing from 1972–2001, show economic profits averaging near zero across industries, aligning with competitive pressures driving returns to normal levels.^[4]

Measurement and Calculation

Accounting profit, the standard measure used in financial reporting, is calculated by subtracting explicit costs—such as wages, materials, rent, and taxes—from total revenue, as reported on a company's income statement under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).^[3]^[4] This yields net profit, often termed bottom-line profit, after deducting cost of goods sold (COGS) to get gross profit, then operating expenses for operating profit, and finally interest, depreciation, and taxes.^[15] For example, gross profit = total revenue - COGS; operating profit = gross profit - operating expenses; net profit = operating profit - non-operating expenses, interest, and taxes.^[16] In contrast, economic profit, a concept central to microeconomic analysis, adjusts accounting profit by subtracting implicit costs, primarily opportunity costs representing forgone returns from alternative uses of resources, such as the owner's time or capital invested elsewhere at the market rate.^[12]^[17] The formula is economic profit = total revenue - (explicit costs + implicit costs), or equivalently, economic profit = accounting profit - opportunity costs.^[4]^[3] Economic profit can be zero (normal profit, covering opportunity costs exactly), positive (supernormal profit, signaling resource misallocation), or negative, indicating inefficiency relative to alternatives.^[12] Profit measurement often incorporates ratios for comparability, such as net profit margin = (net profit / total revenue) × 100, which quantifies profitability as a percentage of sales after all deductions.^[18] In advanced economic efficiency assessments, data envelopment analysis (DEA) models decompose profit into components like cost efficiency and revenue efficiency, comparing firms against benchmarks, though these require peer-reviewed econometric techniques beyond standard accounting.^[19] Empirical studies emphasize that while accounting profit suits regulatory reporting, economic profit better captures true value creation by incorporating market-implied opportunity costs, avoiding overstatement from ignoring alternatives.^[12]^[20]

Role in the Economy

Incentives for Production and Efficiency

In market economies, the pursuit of profit serves as a primary incentive for entrepreneurs and firms to expand production, as revenues exceeding costs signal opportunities to scale operations and capture greater market share. This mechanism aligns individual self-interest with societal benefits by directing resources toward goods and services demanded by consumers, thereby increasing overall output levels. For instance, firms that identify unmet demand can achieve supernormal profits in the short term, prompting investment in additional capacity and labor to sustain and grow these gains.^[21] Profit maximization further compels firms to enhance operational efficiency, as lower production costs relative to selling prices directly boost margins and competitive viability. By minimizing waste, optimizing supply chains, and adopting cost-saving technologies, businesses reduce expenses per unit, enabling either price reductions to attract more customers or reinvestment into expansion. Empirical analyses confirm that firms exhibiting higher productive efficiency—measured through metrics like total factor productivity—tend to advertise more aggressively and secure elevated profit levels, particularly when advertising costs are manageable.^[22] Competition intensifies this dynamic, as rivals erode market positions of inefficient producers through undercutting prices or superior offerings, compelling survivors to continually refine processes for survival and profitability.^[23] This incentive structure contrasts with non-profit-driven systems, where absent price signals and profit accountability often lead to misallocated resources and stagnation, as evidenced by historical productivity shortfalls in centrally planned economies lacking such motivators. In competitive settings, profit not only rewards efficiency but also penalizes complacency, fostering a feedback loop where sustained profitability correlates with adaptive improvements in resource utilization. Studies on manufacturing sectors under heightened rivalry show operational efficiency rising as firms respond to profit pressures by streamlining operations and leveraging foreign ownership for advanced practices.^[24]

Resource Allocation and Signaling

In a market economy, profits act as a decentralized signal for directing scarce resources toward uses that generate the highest value as determined by consumer preferences and relative scarcities. When firms achieve positive economic profits—revenues exceeding both explicit and implicit costs—this indicates that the goods or services produced are valued more highly by consumers than the opportunity costs of the inputs employed, incentivizing entrepreneurs to expand operations by attracting capital, labor, and materials into that sector.^[21]^[25] This mechanism contrasts with planned economies, where administrative directives often fail to accurately reflect dispersed knowledge of local conditions and preferences, leading to persistent misallocations.^[5] The signaling function of profit integrates information on supply constraints and demand through the price system: rising prices due to unmet demand or input scarcities boost revenues faster than costs, yielding profits that guide reallocation without central coordination. For instance, during the U.S. shale oil boom starting around 2008, technological innovations reduced extraction costs while global demand pressures elevated prices, generating substantial profits that drew over $200 billion in investments by 2014, expanding domestic production from 5 million to nearly 9 million barrels per day and alleviating global supply shortages.^[26]^[7] Conversely, losses—where revenues fall short of total costs—signal inefficient resource use, prompting firms to reduce output, innovate cost reductions, or exit, thereby freeing resources for more productive applications elsewhere.^[21] In competitive equilibrium, persistent supernormal profits erode as entry increases supply and drives prices down, while normal profits (covering opportunity costs) prevail, confirming that resources are allocated to their highest-valued uses with no net incentive for shifts. This dynamic fosters productive efficiency, as evidenced by studies showing market economies allocate resources closer to Pareto optimality than command systems, where profit signals are absent and shortages or surpluses persist due to distorted incentives.^[27]^[5] Empirical analyses of post-1990s transitions in Eastern Europe confirm that introducing profit-driven markets rapidly reallocated industrial resources from obsolete heavy manufacturing to consumer-oriented sectors, boosting GDP growth rates by 4-6% annually in countries like Poland and Estonia through the early 2000s.^[26]

Driving Innovation and Economic Growth

The pursuit of profit incentivizes entrepreneurs and firms to innovate by rewarding the discovery and implementation of novel technologies, processes, and products that enhance efficiency or meet unmet demands. In Joseph Schumpeter's framework, outlined in his 1911 work The Theory of Economic Development, entrepreneurs drive economic progress through "creative destruction," where temporary monopoly profits from innovations disrupt existing markets, funding further advancements and expanding productive capacity.^[28] This process generates sustained growth, as evidenced by Schumpeterian models showing that profit opportunities motivate entrants to innovate, thereby increasing overall output beyond static equilibrium levels.^[29] Empirical studies confirm a positive link between profitability and innovation outputs. For instance, analysis of firm-level data reveals that technological innovations boost profitability, creating a virtuous cycle where higher profits enable greater investments in research and development (R&D), which in turn sustain profit growth through product improvements and capital enhancements.^[30] ^[31] Cross-country panel data further demonstrate that innovation activities, often propelled by profit-seeking, positively impact GDP per capita, with dynamic effects persisting over time due to knowledge spillovers and productivity gains.^[32] In the United States, gross domestic expenditures on R&D reached $806 billion in 2021, largely funded by private sector profits, correlating with technological leadership in sectors like information technology that have contributed to average annual GDP growth rates exceeding 2% since the 1990s.^[33] ^[34] Profit's role extends to resource mobilization for high-risk ventures, where expected returns justify capital allocation toward unproven ideas. Historical evidence from the Industrial Revolution illustrates this: steam engine patents and factory innovations, driven by profit anticipation, multiplied UK output per worker by factors of 10-20 between 1760 and 1840, laying foundations for modern growth.^[35] Contemporary examples include pharmaceutical firms, where U.S. industry profits averaging 15-20% of revenues since 2000 have financed R&D pipelines yielding breakthroughs like mRNA vaccines, which accelerated economic recovery post-2020 disruptions.^[36] Without profit incentives, as seen in centrally planned economies with subdued innovation rates (e.g., Soviet Union's lag in consumer technologies despite state R&D), growth stagnates due to misaligned incentives lacking personal gain from discovery.^[37]

Historical Perspectives

Ancient and Pre-Modern Concepts

In ancient Greece, particularly in the works of Aristotle (384–322 BCE), profit was conceptually distinguished from natural economic activity. Aristotle, in his Politics and Nicomachean Ethics, contrasted oikonomia—the management of a household for self-sufficiency and use-value—with chrematistike, the art of acquisition through unlimited exchange for profit, which he deemed unnatural and potentially corrupting to virtue.^[38] He argued that retail trade and moneylending for gain, rather than utility, fostered greed (pleonexia) and deviated from the telos of human flourishing (eudaimonia), though he allowed limited profit from natural sources like agriculture or animal husbandry if it did not harm neighbors.^[39] Aristotle condemned usury as the most unnatural form of profit, since money, lacking productive capacity, could not legitimately "breed" more money without violating its role as a medium of exchange.^[40] Roman attitudes toward profit reflected a practical embrace of commerce alongside elite disdain. While trade networks spanned the empire, generating substantial revenues—evidenced by extensive Mediterranean shipping and market integration—upper-class Romans idealized agriculture as the virtuous pursuit, viewing mercantile profit as ignoble and suited to freedmen or provincials.^[41] Cicero (106–43 BCE), in De Officiis, echoed Greek sentiments by ranking occupations, deeming wholesale trade tolerable if moderate but condemning retail for its pettiness and potential deceit, prioritizing landed wealth as a stable, honorable source of income over speculative gains.^[42] This cultural bias persisted despite empirical economic reliance on profit-driven activities, such as provincial taxation and long-distance imports, which sustained imperial prosperity without formal theoretical endorsement of profit maximization.^[43] Medieval scholastic thinkers, influenced by Aristotle via Islamic intermediaries like Averroes (1126–1198 CE), integrated profit into a framework of natural law and Christian ethics, permitting it under conditions of justice. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274 CE), in Summa Theologica, allowed merchants' profit as compensation for labor, risk, and opportunity costs, aligning with the "just price" (pretium iustum)—determined by communal estimation rather than subjective utility—to prevent exploitation while enabling trade's utility to society.^[44] Usury remained prohibited as sterile gain from loans, per biblical and Aristotelian precedents, though late scholastics like Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444 CE) distinguished licit profit from usury, recognizing titles such as damnum emergens (recompense for lender's loss) or lucrum cessans (forgone earnings).^[45] This synthesis viewed profit not as an end but as subordinate to the common good, critiquing excess as avarice while empirically accommodating market exchanges in feudal economies.^[46]

Emergence in Mercantilism and Classical Economics

Mercantilism, dominant from the 16th to 18th centuries, conceptualized profit largely as the outcome of favorable balances of trade, where national wealth—measured in bullion—accrued through export surpluses and import restrictions.^[47] Proponents like Thomas Mun, in England's Treasure by Foreign Trade (published 1664, written circa 1620s), advocated policies such as re-exporting foreign goods to generate profits by minimizing outflows of specie while maximizing inflows, treating trade as a zero-sum contest between nations.^[48] This view rationalized merchant gains from monopolies, colonial raw material extraction, and protectionist tariffs, but subordinated individual profits to state-directed accumulation, often conflating private enterprise with royal prerogative and viewing domestic production as secondary to external arbitrage.^[47] Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) marked a pivotal shift, critiquing mercantilist interventionism and redefining profit as the remuneration for capital advanced in production, separate from labor wages and land rents, and integral to the "natural price" of commodities.^[49] Smith argued that profits emerge from the productive employment of stock—such as tools, machinery, and circulating capital—motivated by competition among investors, with rates fluctuating inversely to wage levels and directly with market demand for goods; gross profits, he noted, encompass surpluses after covering interest and extraordinary risks, fostering capital accumulation through free exchange rather than state favoritism.^[50] This framework elevated profit from a mercantilist artifact of trade policy to a dynamic incentive for efficiency and division of labor, aligning individual self-interest with societal wealth creation in laissez-faire markets. Building on Smith, David Ricardo's On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817) formalized profit as the residual distributive share accruing to capital owners after subsistence wages and differential rents, primarily regulated by the corn (agricultural) sector's productivity.^[51] Ricardo posited an inverse relationship between wages and profits, with the latter tending toward a uniform rate across industries but declining over time due to diminishing marginal returns on land, constraining long-term growth unless offset by technological advances or free trade.^[52] This analytical rigor distinguished classical profit theory from mercantilist aggregates, emphasizing endogenous factors like capital-labor ratios and resource scarcity, while underscoring profits' role in allocating resources amid population pressures and rent extraction.^[51]

20th-Century Developments and Theories

In the early 20th century, economist Frank H. Knight advanced a theory distinguishing calculable risk from irreducible uncertainty, arguing in Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit (1921) that entrepreneurial profits emerge as compensation for bearing the latter, which cannot be insured or probabilistically forecasted. Under Knight's framework, perfect competition yields zero economic profits in equilibrium, but uncertainty creates opportunities for superior judgment, positioning profit as a residual reward for foresight amid unknowable future states. This view reinforced the entrepreneurial function in resource allocation and influenced Chicago School emphases on decision-making under incomplete information.^[53] The interwar period challenged neoclassical assumptions of perfect competition through theories of imperfect markets. Joan Robinson's The Economics of Imperfect Competition (1933) modeled firms facing downward-sloping demand curves, where profit maximization at the point of marginal revenue equaling marginal cost enables persistent supernormal profits via pricing power in monopolistic or oligopolistic structures, rather than mere efficiency rewards. Complementing this, Edward Chamberlin's contemporaneous work similarly highlighted product differentiation sustaining profits beyond temporary disequilibria. Concurrently, Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means' The Modern Corporation and Private Property (1932) documented the diffusion of share ownership in U.S. corporations, leading to managerial control detached from owners; this separation implied deviations from strict shareholder profit maximization, as executives pursued sales growth, security, or empire-building, empirically evidenced by concentrated control in the top 200 firms holding half of U.S. corporate wealth.^[54]^[55] John Maynard Keynes' The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936) reframed profit determination macroeconomically, positing aggregate profits as the difference between total income and consumption, driven primarily by autonomous investment expenditures that stimulate effective demand via multipliers. Unlike micro-level cost-based views, Keynes emphasized that profit expectations govern investment, with underemployment equilibria suppressing profits absent demand stimulus, as firms set output based on anticipated sales rather than marginal conditions alone.^[56] Mid-century, Joseph Schumpeter's Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (1942) portrayed profits as transient quasi-rents from innovation, where entrepreneurs secure temporary monopolies through "creative destruction"—disrupting extant production via novel methods, products, or organizations—yielding high returns until competitive imitation diffuses advantages. Schumpeter contrasted this dynamic process with static equilibrium models, attributing capitalism's growth to such profit-motivated innovations, though warning of eventual bureaucratization eroding entrepreneurial vigor. These theories collectively shifted profit from a static residual to a dynamic, context-dependent phenomenon, incorporating uncertainty, market power, and aggregate forces.^[57]

Theoretical Frameworks

Neoclassical Economics and Profit Maximization

In neoclassical economics, firms are assumed to behave as rational agents seeking to maximize profit, defined as the difference between total revenue (TR) and total costs (TC), or π = TR - TC.^[58] This objective function drives production decisions, with firms adjusting output levels to equate marginal revenue (MR), the additional revenue from selling one more unit, to marginal cost (MC), the additional cost of producing that unit.^[59] The first-order condition for profit maximization, derived from calculus, is dπ/dQ = MR - MC = 0, implying MR = MC at the optimal quantity Q*.^[60] This framework rests on several core assumptions, including perfect information about costs and demand, rational decision-making by firm owners or managers unconstrained by agency problems, and static market conditions without significant uncertainty or bounded rationality.^[61] In perfectly competitive markets, where firms are price-takers, MR equals the market price P, so profit maximization occurs where P = MC, leading to long-run zero economic profits as entry and exit equalize returns to normal levels.^[62] Under imperfect competition, such as monopoly, MR falls below P due to downward-sloping demand, but the MR = MC rule still holds, though it may yield positive economic profits if barriers to entry persist.^[63] The profit maximization postulate underpins neoclassical models of resource allocation, positing that decentralized firm decisions aggregate to Pareto-efficient outcomes in competitive equilibria, as per the first welfare theorem.^[58] Empirical tests, such as those examining firm output responses to cost shocks, provide mixed support; while some studies affirm short-run MR = MC behavior in concentrated industries, deviations arise from managerial objectives, adjustment costs, or strategic interactions not captured in static models.^[64] Neoclassical theory thus treats profit maximization as a foundational behavioral hypothesis, enabling predictive analytics like supply curve derivation from MC above average variable cost.^[65]

Austrian School and Entrepreneurial Profit

In the Austrian School of economics, profit is understood as the residual income accruing to entrepreneurs for their successful foresight in anticipating consumer demands and market conditions under conditions of uncertainty.^[66] This view, articulated by Ludwig von Mises in works such as his 1951 essay "Profit and Loss," posits that entrepreneurial profit emerges from the trial-and-error process of the market, where accurate judgments about future prices and resource uses generate surpluses beyond costs, while errors result in losses that signal misallocation.^[66] Mises emphasized that profit and loss compel economic actors to align production with consumer sovereignty, as cost accounting reveals inefficiencies and directs capital toward its highest-valued ends, a function impossible in socialist systems lacking market prices.^[66] Entrepreneurial profit is distinct from other factor incomes like interest, which arises from time preference as theorized by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, or wages tied to labor productivity; pure profit represents the premium for bearing Knightian uncertainty and deviating from routine calculation.^[67] Israel Kirzner, building on Mises in his 1973 book Competition and Entrepreneurship, refined this by highlighting "alertness" as the core entrepreneurial trait: profits arise not from risk-bearing per se but from discovering and exploiting hitherto unnoticed arbitrage opportunities that coordinate dispersed knowledge and move the market toward equilibrium.^[67]^[68] For Kirzner, such discoveries create value ex nihilo, benefiting society through expanded mutual gains rather than redistributing existing wealth.^[68] Friedrich Hayek complemented this framework by underscoring the price system's role in conveying fragmented knowledge to entrepreneurs, enabling profit-motivated adjustments that foster spontaneous order and resource efficiency.^[67] In the Austrian market process—viewed as dynamic and disequilibrated—profits are transient signals incentivizing innovation and error correction, eroding as competition diffuses discoveries.^[67] This contrasts with equilibrium models, as Austrian theory rejects perfect foresight, insisting that genuine entrepreneurship thrives on genuine ignorance and the profit motive's drive to remedy it.^[67] Empirical alignment with this view appears in historical market episodes, such as rapid post-war reconstructions where entrepreneurial profits accelerated resource reallocation, though Austrians prioritize praxeological deduction over statistical aggregates.^[66]

Keynesian and Post-Keynesian Views

In Keynesian economics, profits function primarily as the expected returns that motivate entrepreneurial investment amid fundamental uncertainty about future economic conditions. John Maynard Keynes, in The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1936), described investment decisions as driven not by precise calculations of marginal productivity but by "animal spirits"—spontaneous optimism or pessimism that leads firms to anticipate quasi-rents or profits from capital goods.^[69] These expectations influence aggregate demand, as investment spending generates income and employment, potentially leading to higher realized profits through multiplier effects, though Keynes emphasized that short-run profits could deviate from long-run equilibria due to demand deficiencies rather than supply-side efficiencies.^[70] Unlike neoclassical models assuming continuous profit maximization, Keynesian analysis treats profits as volatile signals responsive to macroeconomic policy, such as fiscal stimuli that boost demand and thereby validate profit expectations.^[71] Post-Keynesian thinkers extend this by integrating Michal Kalecki's framework, where aggregate profits are endogenously determined by effective demand rather than exogenous productivity or cost curves. Kalecki's equation, derived in the 1930s, states that total capitalist profits equal gross private investment plus capitalists' consumption expenditures plus the government budget deficit (or minus surplus) plus net exports, assuming workers save nothing from their wages.^[72]^[73] This implies a causal flow from investment to profits: firms must spend on capital goods to "create" the profits needed to finance that spending, reversing the neoclassical sequence where profits precede investment.^[74] In Post-Keynesian distribution theory, the share of profits in national income arises from firms' markup pricing over prime (labor) costs, reflecting the "degree of monopoly" in oligopolistic markets rather than competitive marginalism.^[75] Kalecki argued in works like Essays on the Theory of Economic Fluctuations (1939) that higher markups, enabled by barriers to entry and pricing power, expand the profit margin independently of aggregate output levels, though realized profits still hinge on demand to absorb production.^[76] This perspective critiques strict profit maximization as unrealistic under Knightian uncertainty, positing instead that firms pursue satisfactory profits via administered prices and financial conventions, with instability arising from debt-financed investment and profit volatility.^[77] Empirical validations, such as Levy Institute decompositions, confirm that government deficits have historically boosted U.S. corporate profits by 10-20% in deficit-expansionary periods post-1960, aligning with Kalecki's identity over profit-maximization assumptions.^[72]

Criticisms and Defenses

Marxist Exploitation Theory and Rebuttals

In Marxist theory, profit derives from the exploitation of wage laborers via the appropriation of surplus value, rooted in the labor theory of value whereby a commodity's value equals the socially necessary labor time for its production. Capitalists advance wages to workers equivalent to the reproduction cost of their labor power—covering subsistence and generational replacement—but compel labor that embodies greater value over the workday; the excess, or surplus value, becomes capitalist profit after deducting constant capital costs like machinery.^[78]^[79] This process, Marx maintained, sustains capital accumulation while intensifying class antagonism, with exploitation quantified as the ratio of surplus value to variable capital (wages paid).^[80] Rebuttals highlight foundational inconsistencies in the labor theory of value, which posits labor as the sole value source yet fails to explain uniform profit rates across sectors with varying capital-labor ratios. Austrian economist Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk demonstrated that equalizing profits necessitates prices of production diverging from labor values, rendering surplus value's derivation from "unpaid labor" incoherent; instead, profits emerge as interest from time-structured production, where capital's roundabout methods yield output exceeding immediate labor inputs due to time preference.^[81]^[82] Böhm-Bawerk further critiqued Marx's aggregation of total social value as meaningless absent exchange and his reliance on subjective competition to salvage the theory, exposing a shift from objective labor-determination to ad hoc adjustments.^[81] Marginalist and neoclassical frameworks counter that incomes reflect marginal productivity: wages equal the value of labor's marginal product, augmented by capital, while profits reward capital's and entrepreneurship's contributions, not arbitrary deductions from a labor-total. Empirical tests affirm this alignment, with wages tracking marginal products across datasets, unlike the labor theory's predictions of value-labor proportionality.^[83] Labor exchanges occur voluntarily, with workers gaining from capital-financed productivity boosts that elevate real wages above subsistence; Marx's coerced-exploitation narrative overlooks quit options, bargaining, and mutual gains absent capital investment.^[78] Historical trajectories invalidate exploitation-driven immiseration forecasts: real wages in capitalist economies surged from near-subsistence levels (e.g., 1-2 days' purchasing power per day in early 19th-century Britain) to 10-20 times higher by 2020, mirroring productivity advances rather than stagnant exploitation.^[84] Profits, thus, compensate risk, innovation, and deferred consumption, fostering growth that benefits workers via higher living standards, not zero-sum extraction.^[78]^[84]

Shareholder Primacy vs. Stakeholder Capitalism Debate

Shareholder primacy posits that the primary duty of corporate executives is to maximize value for shareholders, who bear the residual risk of the firm's activities. This view, articulated by economist Milton Friedman in his September 13, 1970, New York Times article, contends that using corporate resources for social goals beyond profit maximization, while adhering to legal and ethical constraints, constitutes an unauthorized taxation without representation and undermines the separation of economic and political functions.^[85] Friedman's doctrine emphasizes that shareholders, as owners, delegate authority to managers who must prioritize returns on invested capital, fostering accountability and efficient resource allocation in a market system.^[86] In contrast, stakeholder capitalism advocates balancing interests of multiple constituencies, including employees, customers, suppliers, and communities, alongside shareholders. This framework gained prominence with the Business Roundtable's August 19, 2019, statement, endorsed by 181 CEOs of major U.S. firms, which redefined the corporation's purpose to "promote an economy that serves all Americans" through commitments like investing in employees and supporting communities, departing from prior shareholder-focused principles.^[87] Proponents argue it encourages sustainable practices that mitigate externalities such as environmental degradation and inequality, potentially yielding long-term resilience, as evidenced by claims that stakeholder-oriented firms better navigate crises due to diversified relational capital.^[88] Defenders of shareholder primacy counter that it aligns incentives with value creation, as empirical analyses indicate firms adhering to profit maximization exhibit stronger stock performance and innovation rates compared to those diluting focus on shareholders.^[89] Friedman's influence permeated corporate governance, underpinning legal norms like the business judgment rule, which presumes managerial decisions serve shareholder interests unless proven otherwise, thereby minimizing agency costs from managerial self-interest.^[90] Critics of stakeholder capitalism, including legal scholars, assert it grants executives undue discretion, insulating them from shareholder oversight and risking suboptimal economic outcomes, as vague multi-stakeholder mandates lack enforceable metrics and often devolve into managerial capture rather than genuine accountability.^[91] Empirical evidence remains contested, with studies showing no systematic outperformance by stakeholder models; for instance, post-2019 Business Roundtable shifts correlated with continued emphasis on shareholder returns in practice, suggesting rhetorical commitments have not materially altered governance structures or firm valuations.^[92] Shareholder primacy's emphasis on residual claimants incentivizes risk-taking and capital deployment, historically driving U.S. economic growth, whereas stakeholder approaches may prioritize non-pecuniary goals at the expense of efficiency, as seen in analyses of European models where broader mandates coincide with slower productivity gains relative to shareholder-oriented systems.^[93] By 2024, five years after the Business Roundtable's pivot, corporate actions demonstrated persistent profit orientation, underscoring primacy's enduring practical dominance despite declarative shifts.^[94]

Empirical Evidence on Profit Motive Outcomes

Empirical studies demonstrate that profit motives in competitive markets drive resource allocation efficiency and economic expansion. In China, the introduction of profit incentives through 1978 reforms, including decollectivization of agriculture and allowance for private businesses, resulted in average annual GDP per capita growth of 8.2% from 1978 to 2020, alongside a decline in the national poverty rate from over 66% to near zero by official measures.^[95] These changes lifted approximately 800 million individuals out of extreme poverty, representing about 75% of the global total over the same period.^[96] At the firm level, profit maximization aligns with superior investment outcomes and performance. Private firms, motivated by profit, exhibit more efficient capital allocation than public counterparts, yielding higher profitability over one- to three-year horizons following investment decisions.^[97] Profit efficiency metrics, which account for both revenue generation and cost control under profit-seeking behavior, outperform traditional accounting measures in assessing overall firm performance.^[98] The profit motive also correlates with heightened innovation rates. Econometric evidence identifies a virtuous cycle wherein product innovations and capital investments independently propel profit growth, with profits in turn funding subsequent R&D.^[31] In pharmaceuticals, expansions in expected market size—enhancing profit potential—induce greater entry of novel drugs, as firms respond to anticipated returns on innovation.^[99] Entrepreneurial profit-seeking similarly accelerates technological adoption and job creation, challenging incumbents and spurring economy-wide productivity gains.^[100] Cross-system comparisons reinforce these patterns, with market economies achieving faster poverty reduction than centrally planned alternatives. Global extreme poverty fell from 38% of the population in 1990 to under 10% by 2019, coinciding with widespread adoption of profit-oriented policies in Asia and elsewhere, though attribution requires controlling for aid and demographics.^[101] Instances suppressing profit motives, such as Venezuela's nationalizations post-2000, yielded GDP contractions exceeding 70% from 2013 to 2021 amid hyperinflation and shortages, contrasting with profit-driven recoveries in liberalized economies.^[102] Nuances emerge in non-competitive sectors, where some analyses find no inherent efficiency edge for private over public ownership absent rivalry, though profit incentives generally outperform welfare maximization in dynamic settings.^[103] Macro-level data occasionally highlight short-term profit pressures curbing risky innovations, yet long-term evidence favors profit-driven systems for sustained growth and welfare improvements.^[104]

Business and Legal Aspects

Corporate Profit Strategies

Corporate profit strategies refer to deliberate actions firms undertake to enhance net income by increasing revenues, minimizing costs, or optimizing resource allocation. A foundational framework is Michael Porter's generic competitive strategies, which include cost leadership, differentiation, and focus, each aimed at achieving superior returns relative to competitors. Empirical analysis of 113 firms demonstrates that these strategies collectively explain 63.2% of variance in firm performance, with differentiation exerting the strongest positive effect at 43.9% improvement per 1% increase in application, followed by focus at 31.5% and cost leadership at 31.2%.^[105] Cost leadership involves streamlining operations to produce goods or services at lower costs than rivals, enabling competitive pricing while maintaining margins. This approach leverages economies of scale, efficient supply chains, and process innovations to capture market share and bolster profitability; for instance, firms adopting cost leadership report enhanced profit margins through reduced production expenses.^[106] However, evidence indicates it yields lower long-term profitability compared to differentiation, as aggressive cost-cutting can constrain quality or innovation investments.^[107] Differentiation strategies emphasize unique product features, branding, or customer service to justify premium pricing and foster customer loyalty, thereby expanding revenue streams. Studies confirm this yields higher income realization over cost-focused methods, with firms achieving sustained competitive advantages through perceived value that rivals cannot easily replicate. Focus strategies target niche markets with tailored offerings, either via cost or differentiation, proving effective for specialized profitability in segmented industries.^[105] Beyond competitive positioning, corporations pursue growth-oriented tactics such as core business innovation, adjacency expansion, and portfolio reallocation to drive outsized returns. Analysis of outperforming firms reveals that integrating these—particularly divesting underperformers to fund high-potential areas—correlates with 7% higher annual total shareholder returns compared to peers.^[108] Employee-centric initiatives and sustainability alignments further amplify results, with transformations involving over 20% employee ownership delivering nearly double excess shareholder returns, underscoring the causal link between operational agility and profit enhancement.^[108] Pricing optimization and cost audits also contribute, as data-driven adjustments can elevate margins without eroding demand.^[109]

Legal Frameworks and Profit Rights

In legal systems predicated on private property and contract enforcement, profit rights are derivative of the broader entitlements to own assets, engage in voluntary exchange, and retain residual gains after fulfilling obligations such as debts and taxes. These frameworks, originating in English common law traditions emphasizing freedom of trade, position profits not as a standalone privilege but as the lawful outcome of productive activity, shielded from arbitrary confiscation to incentivize investment and innovation. For instance, contract law mandates enforcement of agreements that allocate profits among parties, ensuring predictability in business dealings.^[110] In the United States, constitutional provisions underpin these rights, with the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause prohibiting government seizure of private property—including business assets and associated profits—without just compensation, applicable to both direct appropriations and regulatory actions that substantially impair economic value.^[111] Corporations, treated as artificial persons for constitutional purposes, invoke due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to contest regulations that excessively erode profit potential, as affirmed in Supreme Court precedents extending protections to for-profit entities across amendments including the First and Fourth.^[112] Shareholder primacy in corporate governance further codifies residual profit claims, prioritizing distributions to owners after creditor satisfaction, as delineated in state incorporation statutes and Delaware General Corporation Law principles dominant in U.S. jurisprudence.^[113] Intellectual property regimes exemplify targeted profit protections, granting creators time-limited monopolies to commercialize inventions and works, thereby securing returns on intellectual investments; the U.S. patent system, for example, explicitly enables patentees to exclude others and profit exclusively for up to 20 years post-filing.^[113] In partnership and limited liability structures, statutes default to proportional profit allocation based on ownership unless overridden by agreement, with silent partners retaining inspection rights over financials to safeguard distributions.^[114] ^[115] Internationally, frameworks like the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), ratified by over 90 countries since 1980, standardize sales contract terms to facilitate cross-border commerce, thereby upholding parties' expectations of profit from fulfilled obligations without undue jurisdictional interference.^[116] Trade agreements under the World Trade Organization similarly curb discriminatory barriers, promoting equitable conditions for profit realization in global markets, though subject to exceptions for national security or public morals. These structures balance profit incentives with competitive safeguards, as antitrust provisions—such as those in the U.S. Sherman Act—curb accretive profits from collusive or monopolistic conduct to preserve market dynamism.^[117] Limitations via taxation and regulation persist, justified under rational basis review for economic legislation, provided they do not devolve into arbitrary deprivations lacking legitimate public purpose.^[118]

Taxation, Regulation, and Profit Impacts

Corporate income taxes directly reduce after-tax profits by levying a percentage on taxable earnings, with effective rates influenced by deductions, credits, and international structures. In the United States, the statutory federal corporate tax rate stood at 35% prior to 2017, encompassing combined federal and average state rates exceeding 39%; the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced this to 21% federally, yielding higher retained earnings for corporations in subsequent years. ^[119] ^[120] Empirical analyses using firm- and industry-level panel data confirm a negative relationship between corporate tax rates and business investment rates, as higher taxation discourages capital expenditures essential for profit expansion. ^[121] ^[122] Government regulations elevate operational costs through compliance requirements, thereby eroding profit margins, with disproportionate effects on smaller firms lacking economies of scale in administrative burdens. U.S. firms allocate 1.3% to 3.3% of their total wage bill to regulatory compliance on average, based on comprehensive tracking of federal rules across sectors. ^[123] Studies indicate that regulatory expansions lower small firms' sales, employment, markups, and profitability, while enabling larger firms to consolidate market power via elevated entry barriers. ^[124] Medium-sized enterprises face compliance costs 47% higher than those of small firms and 18% above large firms' per unit of output, amplifying profit pressures in regulated industries like manufacturing and finance. ^[125] The interplay of taxation and regulation compounds profit reductions by diverting resources from core activities to fiscal and bureaucratic obligations, influencing firm location, innovation, and growth strategies. For example, post-2017 U.S. tax reductions correlated with repatriation of overseas earnings and modest investment upticks, though regulatory persistence tempered fuller gains in profitability. ^[126] Cross-country evidence reinforces that elevated combined tax and regulatory loads correlate with subdued economic activity and firm-level returns, as businesses optimize by minimizing exposure in high-burden jurisdictions. ^[127]

Other Uses

In Arts, Entertainment, and Media

The American television drama Profit, which premiered on Fox on April 8, 1996, and ran for nine episodes until May 1, 1996, centered on Jim Profit, a junior executive at the fictional Gracen & Gracen conglomerate who employs deception, blackmail, and sabotage to pursue promotions and corporate gains.^[128] The series, created by David Greenwalt and John Rogan and starring Adrian Pasdar, depicted Profit as a product of a dysfunctional upbringing, including being raised in a cardboard box by his adoptive parents, underscoring a portrayal of profit ambition devoid of ethical constraints.^[129] Despite critical praise for its innovative narrative and psychological depth—evidenced by an 8.6/10 IMDb rating from over 2,200 users—the program was canceled after one season due to insufficient viewership.^[128] In film, Oliver Stone's Wall Street (1987) examined the profit motive amid 1980s financial deregulation, following stockbroker Bud Fox's entanglement with corporate raider Gordon Gekko, who delivers a shareholder speech asserting, "The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed—for lack of a better word—is good," framing self-interested profit-seeking as a catalyst for efficiency and innovation.^[130] Portrayed by Michael Douglas, Gekko's tactics, including hostile takeovers and insider trading, initially yield substantial returns but lead to his downfall, reflecting real-world events like the 1980s junk bond scandals.^[131] The film's narrative critiques excesses while acknowledging profit's role in market dynamics, influencing public perceptions of Wall Street culture.^[130] Literary depictions often contrast profit as virtuous achievement against societal critiques. Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (1957), a philosophical novel exceeding 1,000 pages, portrays industrialists like Hank Rearden and Dagny Taggart as heroes whose profits from innovations—such as Rearden Metal—represent moral productivity, withdrawing in "going Galt" to expose the consequences of anti-profit policies like excessive regulation and taxation.^[132] Rand's Objectivist framework argues that profit arises from rational, value-creating effort rather than exploitation, challenging collectivist views by illustrating economic collapse without such motives.^[133] Similarly, Theodore Dreiser's The Financier (1912), the first of a trilogy, traces protagonist Frank Cowperwood's ascent through opportunistic investments and market manipulations during the late 19th-century American expansion, highlighting profit's ties to risk and leverage in a pre-regulatory era.^[134]

People

Adam Smith (1723–1790), the Scottish economist and philosopher, conceptualized profit as the remuneration for capital advanced in production, serving as an incentive for investment and risk-bearing in a market economy. In his seminal work An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), Smith argued that profits inversely correlate with wages, as higher labor compensation reduces the share available for capital owners, yet profit-seeking through competition and division of labor fosters overall economic productivity and societal wealth.^[21] He viewed self-interested pursuit of profit as channeled by market mechanisms to promote efficient resource allocation, countering mercantilist restrictions on trade.^[135] Karl Marx (1818–1883), German philosopher and economist, critiqued profit as derived from surplus value, the excess value produced by workers' labor beyond the cost of their wages, which capitalists appropriate as unpaid labor. In Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (1867), Marx posited that this mechanism underlies capitalist accumulation, where profit rates tend to equalize across industries but stem fundamentally from exploitation in the production process.^[136] His analysis framed profit not as a reward for risk or innovation but as a systemic extraction enabling class antagonism and inevitable crises.^[137] Milton Friedman (1912–2006), American economist and Nobel laureate, advocated profit maximization as the primary duty of corporate executives, asserting in his 1970 essay that business's sole social responsibility is to generate profits for shareholders while adhering to legal and ethical norms. This shareholder primacy doctrine, outlined in "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits," contended that diverting resources to extraneous social goals usurps shareholders' rights and inefficiently substitutes private decision-making for individual voluntary actions or governmental policy.^[85] Friedman's view emphasized that sustained profitability, achieved through open competition, ultimately benefits society by enhancing resource allocation and innovation.^[138] Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950), Austrian-American economist, theorized profit as a transient gain accruing to entrepreneurs who introduce innovations, disrupting existing markets through "creative destruction." In Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942), he described how such innovations—new products, methods, or organizations—temporarily yield monopoly-like profits until imitation erodes them, propelling capitalist evolution despite tendencies toward stagnation.^[28] Schumpeter's framework highlighted profit's role in rewarding dynamic entrepreneurship over static efficiency, distinguishing it from routine management.^[139]

Places

Profit Island is a 2,300-acre island situated in the Mississippi River at approximately mile 249.5 above the head of passes (AHP), in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, just north of Baton Rouge.^[140] The island, classified among the river's larger forested features exceeding 2,000 acres, formed in the 19th century through the natural merger of former Islands No. 123 and 124.^[141] Historically known by alternate names including Prophet Island, Browns Island, and Isle de Iberville, it served strategic roles during conflicts. In 1837, the steamboat Monmouth, transporting over 700 Creek Indians, collided with another vessel near the island, resulting in more than 400 drownings—one of the deadliest maritime disasters on the Mississippi at the time.^[141] During the American Civil War, Confederate forces mined the adjacent Profit Island Chute with submerged explosives to impede Union gunboats; the Union ironclad Essex later disarmed and detonated the device on the riverbank.^[141] In modern times, the island has been subject to erosion from river currents, impacting shoreline stability and prompting engineering assessments for nearby levees, including three-dimensional underseepage evaluations to mitigate flood risks.^[142] Its proximity to Baton Rouge has also made it a reference point for hydrological monitoring during events like low-water periods.^[143]

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This paper investigates the effect of (potential) market size on entry of new drugs and pharmaceutical innovation. Focusing on exogenous changes driven by.
[100]
Entrepreneurs and their impact on jobs and economic growth Updated
Entrepreneurs boost economic growth by introducing innovative technologies, products, and services. Increased competition from entrepreneurs challenges ...
[101]
China, the World Bank, and the truth about global poverty - Aeon
Apr 3, 2025 · Data from the World Bank in 2024 show the number of people living in extreme poverty has shrunk from nearly 2 billion in 1990 – 38 per cent of ...
[102]
Capitalism Saves Lives, and Socialism Always Fails - Cato Institute
Jul 31, 2024 · Capitalism creates wealth and saves lives. Socialism and protectionism always fail. By a large margin, the free market is the most successful weapon against ...<|separator|>
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Innovation and industry growth under private and public ownership
Aug 26, 2025 · Grossman and Hart (1986) and Shleifer (1998) argue that a profit motive leads to strong incentives, but welfare maximising public firms would in ...
[104]
[PDF] How Profit-Oriented Motivation Can Impair Innovation and Growth
Thus, empirical data show that there is clear evidence of a profit-seeking paradox at the macroeconomic level. This is especially relevant when shareholder ...
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Linking Porter's generic strategies to firm performance
Jan 13, 2020 · The aim is to indicate the effects of Porter's generic strategies (low-cost strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy) on firm performance.
[106]
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4574945
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[PDF] A critique of Porter's cost leadership and differentiation strategies
However, as the following evidence shows differentiation strategies are more profitable than cost leadership strategy. Peters and Waterman (1982, p.186) say ...
[108]
Six strategies for growth outperformance - McKinsey
May 15, 2024 · In this article, leading experts lay out six key business growth strategies that can have lasting impact in today's uncertain economic ...
[109]
12 Tips to Maximize Profits in Business - NetSuite
Sep 10, 2020 · 1. Assess and Reduce Operating Costs · 2. Adjust Pricing/Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) · 3. Review Your Product Portfolio and Pricing · 4. Up-sell, ...
[110]
What Is Business Law? Exploring the Importance for Companies
Sep 6, 2024 · These rules provide a clear and level playing field, promote fair business dealings, and provide a framework to resolve disputes that may arise.Missing: profit | Show results with:profit
[111]
How the Constitution Shapes Business Law: Key Examples
Rating 4.9 (4,502) Sep 24, 2025 · The Takings Clause under the Fifth Amendment requires just compensation if the government seizes private property, including corporate assets.
[112]
7 - The Constitutional Rights of Corporations in the United States
The US Supreme Court has recognized that corporations may litigate rights under the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment, and ...
[113]
What Is Intellectual Property Law? And Why Does it Matter?
Jul 13, 2023 · They serve to balance the public interest in the wide dissemination of the creative works and a creator's right to profit from their creativity.
[114]
Profit Distribution in a General Partnership – Everything You Need to ...
Oct 15, 2024 · According to regulations, partners have the right to profit distribution after the financial year ends. This usually aligns with the ...
[115]
What Rights Do Silent Partners Have in Business Disputes?
Feb 14, 2025 · Key Rights of Silent Partners in Kansas · Right to Financial Information · Right to Profit Distributions · Right to Legal Action for Mismanagement.
[116]
Legal Framework of International Trade and the Necessity for ...
Dec 20, 2024 · The CISG sets an international standard for basic commercial elements such as validity of contracts, delivery of goods, and payment. Ratified ...
[117]
The Laws That Govern International Business Transactions
Jul 1, 2025 · Key laws include the FCPA, CISG, CFIUS, ITAR, and trade agreements. Foreign legal systems may also have additional requirements.You Must Comply With The... · The United Nations... · The Committee On Foreign...<|control11|><|separator|>
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Traditional Equal Protection: Economic Regulation and Related ...
The constitutional safeguard is offended only if the classification rests on grounds wholly irrelevant to the achievement of the State's objective. State ...
[119]
Corporate Income Tax: Effective Rates Before and After 2017 Law ...
Dec 14, 2022 · A 2017 tax law lowered the top corporate rate from 35 to 21%, but other provisions altered effective tax rates in more complicated ways.
[120]
Economic Effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act - Congress.gov
Apr 7, 2025 · The next five provisions affected business income, and all but expensing were permanent. The TCJA reduced the corporate rate from 35% to 21%.
[121]
How does corporate taxation affect business investment?
Panel regressions at the firm and industry levels confirm that business investment rates are negatively related to corporate taxation, measured by country-level ...
[122]
How Do Corporate Taxes Affect Economic Activity? | NBER
Oct 10, 2023 · Our research provides new empirical evidence of the effects of corporate taxes on local economic outcomes and develops a new framework to quantify the ...
[123]
Tracking the Cost of Complying with Government Regulation | NBER
Feb 1, 2023 · The average US firm spends between 1.3 and 3.3 percent of its total wage bill on regulatory compliance, estimate Francesco Trebbi and Miao Ben Zhang.
[124]
More Regulation Yields More Profits for Large Firms While Crushing ...
May 18, 2023 · His study finds “an increase in regulatory costs results in lower sales, employment, markups, and profitability for small firms,”
[125]
Estimating the Impact of Regulation on Business
Feb 28, 2024 · A new method of measuring the costs for businesses to comply with regulations and find that regulations cost the American economy $289 billion annually.
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How much did TCJA raise investment? - Brookings Institution
Jan 13, 2025 · In other words: Cutting the tax rate even more now would create substantial federal revenue losses that largely finance windfall gains to ...
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[PDF] How does corporate taxation affect business investment? (EN) - OECD
Jul 4, 2023 · Recent empirical literature shows that the sensitivity of firm investment to corporate tax rates tends to be heterogeneous across different ...
[128]
Profit (TV Series 1996–1997) - IMDb
Rating 8.6/10 (2,262) Jim Profit is a newly promoted junior executive at a multinational conglomerate, who uses ruthless methods to climb the corporate ladder.
[129]
Season 1 – Profit - Rotten Tomatoes
Rating 94% (16) Junior executive Jim Profit schemes his way to the top of a corporate conglomerate. This episode: Bobbi considers blackmail.
[130]
American Rhetoric: Movie Speech: Wall Street - Greed is Good
Full text and audio mp3 and video of movie Wall Street - Gordon Gekko Greed is Good Speech to Teldar Paper Shareholders.
[131]
Wall Street (1987) - Quotes - IMDb
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the ...
[132]
Economics in Atlas Shrugged - The Atlas Society
Atlas overturns all the textbook stereotypes about the profit motive. The opposite motive—which Rand calls “anti-greed”—is dramatized in the decline of the ...
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Atlas Shrugged's Timeless Moral: Profit-Making Is Virtue, Not Vice
inventors such ...Missing: motive | Show results with:motive
[134]
The 10 Best Classic Novels About Business - Inc. Magazine
May 10, 2022 · 1. The Financier by Theodore Dreiser · 2. The Rise of David Levinsky by Abraham Cahan · 3. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington.
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ADAM SMITH AND THE CLASSICAL CONCEPT OF PROFIT - 1954
Smith usually regarded that portion of capital which was fixed in 'useful machines and instruments of trade' as affording its owner a profit by 'remaining with ...
[136]
Economic Manuscripts: Theories of Surplus-Value by Karl Marx 1863
1. Ricardo's Confusion of the Laws of Surplus-Value with the Laws of Profit · 2. Changes in the Rate of Profit Caused by Various Factors · 3. The Value of ...
[137]
Capital, Vol.3, Chapter 10 - Marxists Internet Archive
Consequently, the sum of the profits in all spheres of production must equal the sum of the surplus-values, and the sum of the prices of production of the total ...
[138]
Friedman Doctrine - Overview, What It Says, Influence
A theory of business ethics that states that “an entity's greatest responsibility lies in the satisfaction of the shareholders.”
[139]
Schumpeter's Innovation Theory of Profit - Business Jargons
Schumpeter, who believed that an entrepreneur can earn economic profits by introducing successful innovations. In other words, innovation theory of profit ...
[140]
Profit Island - East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA - Mapcarta
Profit Island, originally known as Islands No. 123 and 124, then Prophet Island, and also known as Browns Island and Isle de Iberville, is a 2,300-acre island ...Missing: called | Show results with:called
[141]
Mulatto Bend/Springfield Bend/Profit Island Historical Marker
Profit Island , Mile 249.5 AHP , One of the larger island in the modern river, Profit Island was formed from the Island No. 123 and 124 in the 1800's. During ...Missing: called | Show results with:called
[142]
Profit Island - Baton Rouge Room Collection - The Baton Rouge ...
Subject, Mississippi River ; Description, Profit Island is slowly being eroded, threatening businesses along its shoreline. ; Creator, Charles Gerald ; Date, 1981- ...
[143]
Profit Island, Baton Rouge, LA Jun 2021-Dec 2022 - Planet Stories
Sep 18, 2023 · This story tracks changes in water level during an extreme dry spell for the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge (Profit Island is just ...Missing: called | Show results with:called