Production and the Basic Factors of Production

Notes that open from the definition of production as an outcome of economic activity, quoting J. R. Hicks on activity directed towards satisfying other people's wants, and then set out the four basic factors with their features. Land is the original and primary factor without which the process cannot proceed, covering all natural resources available on, below and above the surface; labour is the active human factor which cannot be stored and is never identical between two workers; capital is the produced means of production; and the entrepreneur brings land, labour and capital together in one place, decides what, how and where to produce, and carries the risk attached to those decisions, requiring administrative ability, complete knowledge, imagination and the qualities of a person of action.