The appeal of the microfoundations project in economics is strongly supported by the considerable force of the discipline's "hard core" (in Lakatos' sense). This is especially the case, if the microfoundations metaphor is seen as a way of giving precedence to microeconomics in unifying economic...

This paper examines the nature and role of maximization postulates concerning profit and utility in the mainstream price theory formation from a methodological perspective. Mainstream economics retains these postulates, despite much criticism, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, they help establish...

If the output market is perfectly competitive and the firm’s production function is not concave, an increase in the output price may lead to an explosive increase in firm’s profits at some point. We explore the properties of this point, called a threshold price. We derive the formula for the...

A fundamental belief in professional sport leagues is that competitive balance is needed to maximize demand and revenues; therefore, leagues have created policies attempting to attain proper competitive balance. Further, research posits that objectives of professional sport teams’ owners...

This paper offers a general overview of the road pricing concept. It first examines the common objectives used in road pricing, namely (a) congestion reduction; (b) raising profits; (c) social welfare maximization; etc. Then, it explores various types of road pricing, including two major ones:...

The objective of this study is to examine the stability of a general equilibrium model in which trade takes place at non-equilibrium prices. Quantity constraints are perceived by the traders and effective demands and supplies are explicitly derived from utility and profit maximization....

This paper argues that profit maximization of mainstream economics though unrealistic serves a useful function in price theory formation. In Islamic economics too we need it for the same purpose. Maximization per se is value neutral. What is maximized, how, and to what end are the real issue to...

Standard banking theory suggests that there exists an optimal level of credit risk that yields maximum bank profit. We identify the optimal level of risk-weighted assets that maximizes banks’ returns in the full sample of US banks over the period 1996–2011. We find that this optimal level is...

Against the backdrop of a strong plea for evidence-based policy, this paper juxtaposes how innovation is analyzed in mainstream economics and evolutionary economics of innovation, as well as their concomitant policy rationales. By discussing the indicators selected for the Innovation Union...

The paper investigates the problem of possibility of investment allocation by economies according to adverse pattern, which can ultimately imply the rise of situation of market failure. We consider the transformation of “ideal” capital allocation into allocation of adverse-selection-type,...