When costs are thought of as being fixed and variable, and revenues are thought of as being directly related to quantities, in a profitable activity, there is a mathematical point where revenues equal the sum of fixed and variable costs. This is known as the breakeven point. The idea of breakeven supports the widespread view that there are economies of scale ... but the reality is that there are as many dis-economies of scale as there are economies of scale.

When value is considered in the scale analysis as well as just costs and revenue, the results may well differ. A small business may bring significant advantage to a community ... a big business may ruin the community.