Profit (economics) - Maximization

Maximization

It is a standard economic assumption (though not necessarily a perfect one in the real world) that, other things being equal, a firm will attempt to maximize its profits. Given that profit is defined as the difference in total revenue and total cost, a firm achieves a maximum by operating at the point where the difference between the two is at its greatest. In markets which do not show interdependence, this point can either be found by looking at these two curves directly, or by finding and selecting the best of the points where the gradients of the two curves (marginal revenue and marginal cost respectively) are equal. In interdependent markets, game theory must be used to derive a profit maximising solution.