According to the economics manuals, the so-called productive resources (or factors of production) are elements used in the production processes of all types of goods (goods) necessary for our material life. Thus, they refer to the so-called inputs (such as labor, raw material and capital). For Karl Marx, a 19th century thinker who produced one of the most important criticisms of the structure of capitalist society, productive resources would be divided as follows in the context of a class society: the proletariat (workers, workers) would have the job (resource of little value), that is, its workforce is seen as a productive resource; whereas the means of production, such as the factory, the machine and capital (most valuable resources), would be exclusively under the power of a ruling class,
Thus, in general, the main productive resources are between: labor, land, raw material, capital and production capacity. When starting with the question of land as a factor of production, in general it refers to the natural resources that can be extracted from it. Therefore, certain activities depend on the land, such as ore extraction (iron ore, copper, tin, gold, silver, etc.), oil extraction, in addition to the most diverse agricultural cultures and civil construction. That is, as an input, sometimes the land provides natural raw materials (oil and iron, for example) that are only extracted by man, now it contributes its nutrients to the plantations, not to mention its physical need for building houses , buildings, factories and other enterprises. Hence its economic value is one of the greatest in terms of productive resources. Therefore, regardless of the nature of the industry that has land as a means of production, it is worth saying that the resources that come from it are scarce resources.
Another fundamental factor of production that has certainly undergone and undergoes transformations throughout history is work: human, physical or mental (intellectual) effort to produce goods and services. Obviously, as a factor of production, labor needs no further explanation, because, despite being among the productive resources of less economic value, it is certainly the protagonist of any production model. After all, it is through work that man interacts and transforms his environment and nature (and, through techniques, obtains what he needs for his material life). Whether in the field, reaping fruits, or in the city, on the factory floor, the worker is present with his workforce, to a greater or lesser degree of specialization.
Don’t stop now … There’s more after the publicity;)
As already mentioned, capital itself is a productive resource, that is, a necessary input. Capital itself does not refer only to the idea of current money, but to goods manufactured by man for the production of other goods. This is what the economy calls capital goods, such as machines, technology, tools, computers, railways, ports, factories, etc. According to Nogami and Passos (2005, p. 13), such instruments, however, must be considered as financial capital and do not constitute wealth, but a right to it. There will be no increase in wealth in society if these paper rights (such as own money, certificates, etc.) increase without a corresponding increase in capital goods (buildings, equipment, stocks, etc.). Finally, and not least, but closely linked to that last feature presented,
In fact, for capitalism to function, capital investment by the bourgeois class (using Marx’s terminology here and not the pejorative meaning that the word has acquired over time) in productive resources or factors of production is a sine qua non , that is, without which this type of production would not be sustained. But an observation must be made while considering capitalism: the generation of poverty, the exploitation of the weak, the social inequality resulting from the poor distribution of income and so many other social problems are a direct consequence of the capitalist mode of production. Thus, one of the contemporary challenges is the attempt to find ways and means to promote economic growth concurrently with social and also sustainable development (from an environmental point of view).
