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Econ 1

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Economic Objectives of Firms
Usually, in economics we assume firms are concerned with maximising profit. Higher profit means:
• Higher dividends for shareholders.
• More profit can be used to finance research and development.
• Higher profit makes the firm less vulnerable to takeover.
• Higher profit enables higher salaries for workers
However, in the real world, firms may pursue other objectives apart from profit maximisation.
1. Profit Satisficing
• In many firms there is separation of ownership and control. Those who own the company (shareholders) often do not get involved in the day to day running of the company.
• This is a problem because although the owners may want to maximise profits, the managers have much less incentive to maximise profits because they do not get the same rewards, (share dividends)
• Therefore managers may create a minimum level of profit to keep the shareholders happy, but then maximise other objectives, such as enjoying work, getting on with other workers. (e.g. not sacking them) This is the problem of separation between owners and managers.
• This ‘principal agent’ problem can be overcome, to some extent, by giving mangers share options and performance related pay although in some industries it is difficult to measure performance.
2. Sales Maximisation
Firms often seek to increase their market share – even if it means less profit. This could occur for various reasons:
• a) Increased market share increases monopoly power and may enable the firm to put up prices and make more profit in the long run.
• b) Managers prefer to work for bigger companies as it leads to greater prestige and higher salaries.
• c) Increasing market share may force rivals out of business. E.g. supermarkets have lead to the demise of many local shops. Some firms may actually engage in predatory pricing which involves making a loss to force a rival

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