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 curve2.2 The Production Possibilities Curve
Specialization
The production possibilities model suggests that specialization will occur. Specialization implies that an economy is producing the goods and services in which it has a comparative advantage. If Alpine Sports selects point C in Figure 2.8 "Efficient Versus Inefficient Production", for example, it will assign Plant 1 exclusively to ski production and Plants 2 and 3 exclusively to snowboard production.
Such specialization is typical in an economic system. Workers, for example, specialize in particular fields in which they have a comparative advantage. People work and use the income they earn to buy – perhaps import – goods and services from people who have a comparative advantage in doing other things. The result is a far greater quantity of goods and services than would be available without this specialization.
Think about what life would be like without specialization. Imagine that you are suddenly completely cut off from the rest of the economy. You must produce everything you consume; you obtain nothing from anyone else. Would you be able to consume what you consume now? Clearly not. It is hard to imagine that most of us could even survive in such a setting. The gains we achieve through specialization are enormous.
Nations specialize as well. Much of the land in the United States has a comparative advantage in agricultural production and is devoted to that activity. Hong Kong, with its huge population and tiny endowment of land, allocates virtually none of its land to agricultural use; that option would be too costly. Its land is devoted largely to nonagricultural use.