Development Studies·Production · NSSCO 3.1

The need for production & the factors of production

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Where do the bread you eat, the water you drink and the taxi you ride actually come from? Nothing just appears — somebody produces it. In this lesson we discover why we produce at all, by sorting our needs (things we must have to survive) from our wants (things we would merely like). Then we meet the three ingredients every producer must have — the factors of production: land, labour and capital — and look closely at each one: land's quality, conservation and ownership; labour's division and specialisation; and capital as both money and the tools and machines we call capital goods, all through Namibian examples.

What you'll learn in this lesson

By the end you should be able to (NSSCO Development Studies 3.1):

  • Explain the need for production: basic needs and wants
  • Explain what is needed to produce goods and services: land, labour and capital — the factors of production
  • Explain how land is a factor of production: the quality of land and physical resources, the need for conservation of natural resources, and the problem of ownership
  • Explain how labour is a factor of production: division of labour and specialisation
  • Explain the meaning of capital: money capital and capital goods, and the use of money capital in the production of resources
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The need for production & the factors of production · NSSCO Development Studies · namstudy