factors of production
*noun*; term coined by
Adam Smith (1723-1790) to refer to things used to produce other things. Usually people refer to four factors of production:1.labor (not the same thing as workers); a worker can work more or less hours per week, and can exchange her labor for payment2. capital; includes tools, machinery, plants and fixtures, seed corn, etc. Adam Smith distinguished between inventories, which he called
circulating capital, and tools, which he called
fixed capital;3. land; understood as a specific area on the earth's surface, but sometimes incorporates the natural productivity or mineral resources as well;4. entrepreneurship; sometimes lumped with capital. Includes the combination of skills required to start a business.