both the inputs and outputs of production are mainly privately owned, priced goods and services purchased in the market. production is carried out for exchange and circulation in the market, aiming to obtain a net profit income from it. the owners of the means of production (capitalists) are the dominant class (bourgeoisie) who derive their income from the surplus product produced by the workers and appropriated freely by the capitalists. A defining feature of capitalism is the dependency on wage-labor for a large segment of the population; specifically, the working class (proletariat) do not own capital and must live by selling their labour power in exchange for a wage.