Profit is the reward which goes to organization as a factor of production for its participation in the process of production. Profits differ from other factor rewards in the following ways: Profit is a residual income left after the payment of contractual rewards to other factors of production. The entrepreneur while hiring other factors of production enters into contract with them. He pays wages to workers, rent for land and interest for borrowed capital and the residue or whatever is left is his profit. Thus profits become non-contractual in character. The various factors of production are rewarded even before the sale of the product and irrespective of its sales whereas profits accrue only after the product is sold. The rewards of other factors have been fixed. They do not fluctuate whereas profits go on fluctuating so much so that the entrepreneur bears the risk of even incurring losses which we Continue reading
Economics Concepts
Impact of Banking Regulations on Financial Intermediation
Banks have all along played the role of financial intermediaries by channelizing funds primarily from the household sector to producing sector and the efficiency and smoothness with which such intermediation is done by banks are one of the prime parameters that determine the economic efficiency and consequent industrial and material progress of a society. Financial intermediation has a cost and that cost is reflected in bank rates and overhead expenditures incurred by banks. Bank rates, however, are not determined in isolation or only from the perspective of profit maximization by the banking sector. These rates are impacted by many other economic and statutory issues pertaining to a particular economy and such issues may vary widely from economy to economy depending upon the administrative attitude towards matters of equanimity in various sectors of the economy, especially the banking sector itself. The general view among experts in this field is that if Continue reading
Baumol’s Sales Revenue Maximization Model
Sales maximization model is an alternative model for profit maximization. This model is developed by Prof. Boumol, an American economist. This alternative goal has assumed greater significance in the context of the growth of Oligopolistic firms. Baumol’s sales revenue maximization model highlights that the primary objective of a firm is to maximize its sales rather than profit maximization. It states that the goal of the firm is maximization of sales revenue subject to a minimum profit constraint. The minimum profit constraint is determined by the expectations of the share holders. This is because no company can displease the share holders. “Though businessmen are interested in the scale of their operations partly because they see some connection between scale and profits, I think management’s concern with the level of sales goes considerably further. In my dealings with them I have been struck with the importance the oligopolistic enterprises attach to the Continue reading
National Income Statistics: Meaning and Uses
What is National Income Statistics? According to most dictionaries, national income is literally the total amount of money earned by a certain country. But in order to calculate the total funds and asset of the country, National Income Statistics are used, which are basically a set of rules, techniques and calculation to measure the total value of final goods and services produced. However, The National Income Statistics are only valid to calculate the national income of a country in a year. The Uses of National Income Statistics Like every other calculations, The National Income Statistics also have their own uses. The National Income Statistics are very important to the development of a certain country as it is the result of hard works done in a year to contribute in the enhancement of a certain country. Firstly, as we all know money and riches usually determines the standard of living of Continue reading
Special Pricing Approaches Used in Business
A variety of approaches are employed by businessmen in setting prices. These approaches are not mutually exclusive but sometimes they complement or supplement one another. Some of them are: Intuitive Pricing: It is a psychological method of pricing in which prices are based on the ‘feel of the market’. The system is more subjective rather than objective in nature. Initially the price is estimated on the basis of cost plus method with flexible mark-up pricing. This method is fairly common. Experimental Pricing: It is a trial and error method of pricing. This method is widely used in pricing of new products especially at retail level. Initiative Pricing: In this method a firm decides to follow a price fixing policy of a price leader. Backward Cost Pricing: Certain industries target price as the starting point for strategic calculations. The selling price is determined first and by working backwards the firm arrives Continue reading
Cobb-Douglas Production Function
The best known production function in economics, is the Cobb-Douglas production function. It is named after its pioneer Douglas who fitted a function suggested by Cobb on the basis of the statistical data pertaining to the entire business of manufacturing in U.S.A. The Cobb-Douglas Production Function is a linear homogeneous production function implying Constant Returns to Scale. It takes the following form: Q = A.Kα.L1-α Where, Q Stands for the Output. L and K are inputs A is a positive constant α is a positive fraction i.e. α < 1. In the above formula if L and K are increased in equal proportion i.e. if L becomes gL and K becomes gK, then the output Q will become gQ. Thus the Cobb-Douglas Production function indicates constant Returns to scale. The Cobb-Douglas Production function also shows that Elasticity of Substitution equals One. Further it hints that if Continue reading