Economic resources, or factors of production, are the inputs used in the creation of goods or services with the aim of making an economic profit. These include land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.
- Land: This encompasses not just physical plots of ground but all natural resources available from nature without human intervention.
- Labor: It signifies human efforts both physical and intellectual. As previously mentioned, this includes time since labor cannot happen without time.
- Capital: Not to be confused with financial capital, this term refers to manufactured resources such as buildings, machinery, and tools used in production. Capital is considered a produced means of production.
- Entrepreneurship: It is the ability to combine the other three factors in a productive way. It involves taking risks and developing new products or ways of doing things.
The synergy of these factors determines the output of an economy, and a shortage or ineffective use of any can limit overall economic production.