Why are business class airline tickets often more expensive than first class?

Business class fares are more expensive in some occasions. There are things called fare buckets, within each class are various fares, which are represented by letters. Economy has a lot Y is the most expensive, or full fare unrestricted fare. In business class it is J that is the full fare, and in first F is the full fare. There are then discounted fares for all classes, in business the most common is I and in first it is A. When you buy the cheaper fares you usually have more restrictions on cancelations and changes and the fees are high to do so. Full fare usually lets you cancel or make changes with no penalty. Thus a full fare business class (J) may very well be less than a discounted first class (A).

It may sound like milking a cow to the maximum extent but most business class passengers - what do they care about how much it costs to travel in that class as the cost is normally borne by the companies they own or represent and eventually by consumers of the services or products of those companies, and so goes the vicious circle!

More leg room, better service, more comfortable seats.

Business people fly a lot, and their companies typically have more money to spend than the average person. Companies generally want to take care of their highly paid professionals, since flying can be uncomfortable and, to some degree, unhealthy.

Thus, companies are willing to pay more to make their flights more tolerable and airlines are happy to accept more money.

Probably because they know that your business is paying for the ticket, so they want to rip your business off by making them pay more for you.

its supply and demand... ie, more people aim for business class tix than any other class ?