Corporations Partnerships Proprietorships are the most common form of business organization, comprising about 71 percent of all firms. Each is owned by a single individual who makes all business decisions, receives all the profits, and has limited unlimited liability for the firm's debts. Partnerships Corporations are much like proprietorships, except that two or more individuals, or partners, share the decisions and the profits of the firm. In addition, each partner has limited unlimited liability for the debts of the firm. Corporations are responsible for the largest share of business revenues. The owners, called shareholders entrepreneurs , share in the firm's profits but normally have little responsibility for the firm's day-to-day operations. They enjoy unlimited limited liability for the debts of the firm. Accounting profits differ from economic profits, which are defined as total revenues minus total costs, where costs include the full marginal opportunity cost of all of the factors of production plus all other implicit costs. The full opportunity cost of capital invested in a business is generally not included as a cost when accounting profits are calculated. Thus, accounting profits often are greater less than economic profits. We assume throughout that the goal of the firm is to eliminate maximize minimize economic profits.