PROFIT IN THE SYSTEM OF ECONOMIC CONCEPTS: CONTENT AND CONCEPTUAL EXPLANATIONS
Abstract
Profit is commonly perceived as the overall outcome of an organization’s financial performance, the result that emerges after comparing revenues with the costs incurred. In essence, it represents the difference between what an enterprise earns and what it spends in the course of its activities. Within economic theory, profit is interpreted more broadly than as a mere numerical indicator. It is associated with compensation for entrepreneurial risk, an internal source of development and investment, and a measure of how efficiently resources are utilized and management is organized. At the same time, theoretical approaches do not offer complete unanimity: various economists provide differing explanations of the nature of profit, its functions, and its role within the economic system as a whole.