Shanlax International Journal of Management
  • Year: 2021
  • Volume: 8
  • Issue: 4

Changing objectives of firms and managerial preferences: A review of models in microeconomics

1Assistant Professor of Economics, Government Arts & Science College, Ambalapuzha, Kerala

2Research Supervisor, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, India, Email ID: pradeepgck@gmail.com

Online Published on 12 April, 2022.

Abstract

Theoretically, producer behavior models postulate that firms have had different objectives ranging from profit maximization to setting aspirational levels. The assumption of the objective of profit maximization was shaped based on the rationality principles, which has lost relevance with the coming of the principle of behavioral economics in recent time. The present paper intends to throw some light on changes that have been made in the objective of firms over years and attempts to review some models emphasizing managerial utility as the core objective of firms.

Keywords

Profit maximization, Sales maximization, Managerial utility function, Managerial discretionary powers, Slacks and salaries, Behavioral economics