In the most general sense resources - is money, values, resources, opportunities, sources of funds, income. Usually, especially allocate economic resources - all that is necessary for the production process.

It should be noted that along with the concept of "resources of production" in the economic literature is often used synonymously with the term "factors of production".

Between them is common - that both resources and factors are the same natural and social forces by which to manufacture. The difference is that the resources are those natural and social forces which may be involved in production, and are attributed to the factors involved in the actual process resources. Accordingly, the term "resources" is broader than "factors of production".

Economic theory distinguishes two groups of economic resources - human and material. Material resources - capital and land, human - labor and entrepreneurial ability. Various combinations of these factors are used to produce the variety of goods and services.

The concept of "land" includes all natural resources: arable land, forests, mineral deposits, water and climate resources, etc.

For your information. Historically, that some states have large territories - Russia (17 075 km2), USA (9629 km2), China (9560 km2) and the other smaller - Andorra (467 km2), Liechtenstein (160 km2 ), San Marino (61 km 2), Monaco (2 km2).

The land can be used for both agricultural (crop cultivation), and for non-agricultural (construction of buildings, roads) needs.

For your information. Agricultural lands occupy the planet 51 million km2. The average per capita income in the world has 0.3 hectares of arable land. The cultivated area per capita significantly differentiated across countries. For example, in the United States, the per capita 0.67 hectares of arable land, and in Japan only 0.03 hectares.

In addition, in the bowels of the earth are a variety of minerals.

For your information. Saudi Arabia has more than 25% of proven oil reserves are concentrated in Russia the world's largest reserves of natural gas - about 40%, while the United States ranks first in the world in proven reserves of coal - 26%.

The concept of "capital" - one of the main theories in the market economy. Considering the capital as a factor of production, economists understand by it the means of production, created by people, including infrastructure (machinery, equipment, buildings, facilities, transportation, communications, etc.).

Capital - a resource durable created with the aim of producing more goods and services. Capital embodied in the means of production is called real capital. Money capital or capital in cash constitute investment resources. Cash used for capital purchases of machinery, equipment and other capital goods. Capital is the product of labor and by virtue of this has been limited.

The term "work" refers to the physical and mental abilities of people employed in the production of goods and services. Manpower - it's working-age population, which has physical and mental abilities needed for production activities. Human resources are the population of working age.

For your information. In Russia, the working age is: men - 16-59 years (inclusive), for women - 16-54 years (inclusive). The boundaries of the working-age vary by country. In some lower limit of 14-15 years, and the other -18 years. The upper limit in many countries is 65 years for all or 65 years - for men and 60-62 years - for women.

Obviously, the human resources as a country, and the world economy is also limited. Today, for the industrialized countries and countries with economies in transition, characterized by demographic aging of the population, when the working-age population is only slightly higher than the number of pensioners.

For your information. In 1950, each retiree had 12 people aged 15-64 years. Today, the global average - 9, and is projected is expected to decline to 4. If quantitative manpower increase with population growth, the quality - with the development of education. According to the level of higher education Russia is in fourth place in the world (after Israel, Norway and the United States). The literacy rate among the adult population in Russia is 99.6% and is the highest in the world, secondary education is 95% of the population. For comparison, the figure in Germany - the country with the highest level of education in the EU - 78% in the UK - 76%, in Spain - 30%, in Portugal - less than 20%.

The concept of "entrepreneurial capacity" means the ability to effectively use all the economic activities of other economic resources for profit and willingness to bear risk for their performance.

Entrepreneurial ability (entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial potential, entrepreneurial resource) is the ability to organize and manage the production, the ability to navigate the market environment.

The value of entrepreneurial skills for the economy is revealed through the functions that the entrepreneur.

First, the entrepreneur, joining all other economic resources (land, capital, labor) and beginning the process of production, takes on the responsibility for its successful implementation and make key decisions in the course of doing business.

Secondly, a successful business today is impossible without innovation. The entrepreneur is engaged in the development and implementation of innovations - new products, technologies and new information.

Third, any businessman risks. Entrepreneurship involves the development of new markets, transactions with new suppliers and customers, the production of new goods and services and the use of new technologies, the effectiveness of which no one is sure. Risk - an inevitable component of the business. Entrepreneurial resource is a rare gift.

 For your information. Researchers at Harvard Medical Center have developed a test to detect human abilities in a variety of fields. They found that only 1% of people are gifted with an "exceptional creative potential," ie, they are available outstanding achievements in the arts and business, 10% have a "high creative potential, another 60% have a" moderate or a 'creative potential; less than 30% of people do not show at all or in a very small degree of his creative activity.

Today, many experts say that economics as a science is concerned with psychology, which, in turn, is associated with genetics. It is proved that one form of the dopamine receptor gene causes of exacerbations in people craving for new experiences. The Americans have this allele occurs on average 25 times more often than the other inhabitants of the planet, which largely determines the level of entrepreneurial activity in the U.S..

Factors of production are the property of the various economic agents who are ready to provide them for a fee for production use. The fee for use of the land - rent, capital - the percentage of labor - wages, entrepreneurial ability - profit.

Thus, all the economic resources have a common feature: they are bounded or rare