Factors of Production and the Production Possibilities Curve
Read Sections 2.1 and 2.2. Take a moment to read through the stated learning outcomes for this chapter, which you can find at the beginning of each section. These outcomes should be your goals as you read through the chapter. Also, attempt the "Try It" problems for each section before checking your answers.
The first section of the chapter will introduce you to the four factors of production that are present in the economy: labor, capital, natural resources, and entrepreneurship. Using any two factors of production, you can then learn to construct the production possibility frontier (PPF) in a two plane model. Note the economic implications of the downward slope and the bowed-out shape of the PPF curve. Also, note the meaning of producing on the curve versus inside the curve. Lastly, think about what it means to move along the curve2.1 Factors of Production
Technology and the Entrepreneur
Goods and services are produced using the factors of production available to the economy. Two things play a crucial role in putting these factors of production to work. The first is technology, the knowledge that can be applied to the production of goods and services. The second is an individual who plays a key role in a market economy: the entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is a person who, operating within the context of a market economy, seeks to earn profits by finding new ways to organize factors of production. In non-market economies the role of the entrepreneur is played by bureaucrats and other decision makers who respond to incentives other than profit to guide their choices about resource allocation decisions.
The interplay of entrepreneurs and technology affects all our lives. Entrepreneurs put new technologies to work every day, changing the way factors of production are used. Farmers and factory workers, engineers and electricians, technicians and teachers all work differently than they did just a few years ago, using new technologies introduced by entrepreneurs. The music you enjoy, the books you read, the athletic equipment with which you play are produced differently than they were five years ago. The book you are reading was written and manufactured using technologies that did not exist ten years ago. We can dispute whether all the changes have made our lives better. What we cannot dispute is that they have made our lives different.