Final answer:
When a firm has zero economic profit and positive implicit costs, the accounting profit is greater than zero. Economic profit accounts for both explicit and implicit costs, whereas accounting profit only considers explicit costs.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of business economics, when a firm generates zero economic profit, this implies that the firm's total revenues are equal to the sum of its explicit and implicit costs. However, when we consider accounting profit, which only takes into account the explicit costs of doing business, the scenario is different. Specifically, if the firm's economic profit is zero and implicit costs are greater than zero, the accounting profit must be greater than zero. This is because implicit costs, such as the opportunity cost of the owner's time, are not deducted when calculating accounting profit.
When new firms enter the market, the increased competition typically leads to a reduction in the prices firms can charge, which decreases the economic profits of individual firms. Consequently, firms will enter the market until economic profits reach zero; however, this does not necessarily mean that accounting profits are zero. In a long-run equilibrium for monopolistically competitive markets, firms earn zero economic profit, but they can still earn positive accounting profits.