profit motive

noun

1. the desire for profit that motivates one to engage in business ventures.

profit motive

1. The ability to earn profits as the reason for producers to make and sell goods .

Notes

The profit motive is often called a great good or a great evil in society. On the one hand, it is said to represent selfishness; on the other, it is said to drive the free market system. ( See invisible hand .)

Word History and Origins

Origin of profit motive¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

A refugee from Hitler’s Europe, Isaac has presided over his family-owned New York publishing house with little regard for the profit motive.

From Los Angeles Times

Other publications are trying to take the profit motive out of journalism.

From Seattle Times

To leave a necessary energy transition to the directives of the profit motive, just because China helped to cheapen the price of solar supply and generation, is to abandon smaller solar companies to the weirdness of a still-growing, often-speculative market.

From Slate

So as long as the thing is connected to the profit motive — the profit not of society but of the individuals who own these platforms — then it doesn’t work for me and it will only get worse.

From Los Angeles Times

It began as a nonprofit research lab because its founders didn’t think artificial intelligence should be pioneered by commercial firms, which are driven overwhelmingly by the profit motive.

From Seattle Times