Profit (economics)

In neoclassical microeconomic theory, profit is either of two related but distinct concepts. Economic profit is similar to accounting profit but smaller because it subtracts off the total opportunity costs (not just the explicit costs, but also the implicit costs) of a venture to an investor.Normal profit refers to zero economic profit. A concept related to economic profit, and sometimes considered synonymous, is that of economic rent.

In classical economics and Marxian economics, profit is the return to an owner of capital goods or natural resources in any productive pursuit involving labor, or a return on bonds and money invested in capital markets. By extension, in Marxian economic theory, the maximization of profit corresponds to the accumulation of capital, which is the driving force behind economic activity within the capitalist mode of production.

Other types of profit have been referenced, including social profit (related to externalities). It is not to be confused with profit in finance and accounting, which is equal to revenue minus only explicit costs, and superprofit, a concept in Marxian economic theory.