Question

Joe decided to quit his computer-programming job (where he was earning $48,000 per year) to start his own software business. For his office, Joe will use a two-story building that he bought 7 years ago for $250,000. The building is located in Hyde Park (South side of Chicago) in an area where a lot of recent construction has taken place, so the market price for the land has increased. You are given the following information about the costs of his firm:

Joe will pay himself a wage of: $18,000 per year
Maintenance and insurance $30,240 per year
Revenue $96,000 per year
Land’s salvage (resale) value $395,000
Risk-free interest rate 4.75% annually

Assume for simplicity that all taxes are equal to zero. Calculate the economic annual profits of this firm:_______

a. 47,760
b. −1,002.5
c. 47,741.2
d. 14,843.3
e. None of the above.

Answer 1

b. −1,002.5

Step-by-step explanation:

economic profit = accounting profit - opportunity costs

• accounting profit = revenue - maintenance and insurance = $96,000 - $30,240 = $65,760
• opportunity costs = the lost salary as a computer programmer + money he could earn by selling the land lot and investing = $48,000 + ($395,000 x 4.75%) = $66,762.50

economic annual profit = $65,760 - $66,762.50 = -$1,002.50