Economic resources and their types

Economic resources are all kinds of natural and human opportunities that are used for production in order to meet needs.

Modern production creates countless different products - services and products. Therefore, the amount of resources used should be as large as production volumes. In essence, economic resources, which are also called production factors, represent various benefits that are used to produce other goods. All of them are united in several large groups. Let's analyze them in more detail.

Economic resources and their types

1) The Earth.

This name unites all types of natural resources: fossils, land, forests, water, flora, fauna, climatic and recreational opportunities.

Natural economic resources have different roles in economic activity:

- as operating basis of production, they represent the immediate territory on which production facilities are located;

- as sources of mineral resources they are used in the extractive industry;

- as objects of production activity they are represented in agriculture.

The Earth is a limited and practically irreplaceable resource, therefore it needs careful attitude of users and in state protection. Due to negligent attitude to the land, more than six million hectares are taken out of agricultural circulation in the world each year. At such rates, in two and a half centuries, mankind risks losing all land suitable for agriculture.

2) Work.

This type of resources covers people who are engaged in productive (economic) activities. Despite technical progress and automation, the role of labor in the production process does not diminish. The reasons for this, first, are the complexity of tasks that are solved in modern production to meet growing needs. Secondly, labor is becoming more and more intellectual, that is, mental efforts are growing. Thirdly, in many areas of activity there are high risks and responsibilities - for example, in nuclear energy, air transportation, etc.

Since people are the direct bearers of specific technical and organizational knowledge and skills, culture, it is now accepted that labor economic resources are not only labor, but all human capital, which reflects the level of development of workers.

3) The capital.

This type of resources includes the means of production (equipment, machinery, equipment, transport, buildings and facilities) and financial opportunities (funds administered by banks and individuals, giving them for use in the form of loans and investments).

4) Ability to entrepreneurship.

These economic resources are separated from others in a separate category and represent the ability to establish a profitable business and effectively manage it. Not everyone has a natural capacity for entrepreneurship, so not all are willing to become successful businessmen. Successful entrepreneurial activity, in addition to knowledge of production technologies, also involves a risk appetite, developed intuition, communication skills and persuasion.

5) Information.

Information economic resources include knowledge about the needs, opportunities, production and management technologies, prices, etc. In the current society, the following principle is fully realized: who owns the information, he owns the world. Therefore, it is called the information society. Of decisive importance now are computer technologies, network systems for the accumulation and transmission of data.