What are the differences, if any?
2007-11-20 22:02:53 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Economics
There are similarities at certain levels of generality and from certain POV's. That is not the focus of the Q-asked. The focus is on the differences-operational and legal, political, social,and ethical. The differences are betw individuals & corporations as distinct kinds of economic and legal entities. One A has cited a difference in terms of a principal-agent issue which was helpful. But surely there are other differences that are at issue.
2007-11-28 01:59:42 · update #1
Usually the only difference is that of scale. An individual can have personal contact with his customers and see the influence of his prices, maybe have price differentiation on a small scale. In large scale concerns, this individual adjustment is not usually possible and profit is the only consideration.
2007-11-28 20:46:48 · answer #1 · answered by jemhasb 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The best way to think about this is to realize that corporations do not own anything. The real owners of the company are the stockholders. So, individuals are the only capitalists in a capitalistic system.
However, there is an interesting problem that arises here, because the owners (stockholders) are not always the people in charge of running the company on a day-to-day basis. That is done by managers, who may have differenct incentives and goals than the stockholders.
There is a large body of research and studies done on this problem, which is called the principal-agent problem.
2007-11-28 01:41:39 · answer #2 · answered by Allan 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is not capitalism for corporations and capitalism for individuals neither.
In capitalism, corporations and individuals are economics agents, so they have different functions in the system.
The corporations like economic agent look for create benefits for its owners using economic activities (offering goods and services in a market).
The individuals like economic agent look for a good job where they can get substantial salaries and can can buy all that things that they want to buy.
2007-11-20 22:49:43 · answer #3 · answered by CSI - Economics 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's part of the same system. The two need each other.
2007-11-20 22:05:14 · answer #4 · answered by flesh 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋