What is a factor of production in economics?

Factors of production are resources that are the building blocks of the economy; they are what people use to produce goods and services. Economists divide the factors of production into four categories: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. What are some examples of land as a factor of production?

What are the four factors of production?

This transcript discusses the four factors of production: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. Land refers to natural resources, while labor is the work that goes into production. Capital is the tools and buildings used to produce things, and entrepreneurship is the know-how of putting it all together.

Should entrepreneurship be considered a separate factor of production from labor?

Since disruptive innovations are the result of human insight, it is not entirely clear that entrepreneurship should be considered a separate factor of production from labor. Economists disagree about whether entrepreneurs are different from laborers, are a subset of laborers or whether they can be both simultaneously.