A method of producing material goods. Evolution of society and material wealth
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Introduction
1. Production of material goods Fundamentals of life in human society
2. Production and resources. The problem of limited resources
3. Main economic problems facing society
4. Ways and factors to increase the efficiency of social production in the Republic of Belarus
Conclusion
List of sources used
Introduction
Classical bourgeois political economy reached its highest development in the works of British scientists A. Smith and D. Ricardo, when Great Britain was the most economically advanced country. Britain had a relatively highly developed agriculture, rapidly growing industry, and conducted active foreign trade. Capitalist relations received great development in it. Here the main classes of bourgeois society were identified: the bourgeoisie, workers, landowners.
At the same time, the expansion of capitalist relations was constrained by numerous feudal orders. The bourgeoisie saw the main enemy in the nobility and was interested in a scientific analysis of the capitalist mode of production in order to identify prospects for social development.
Thus, in Great Britain in the second half of the 18th century, favorable conditions developed for the rise of economic thought, such as the work of A. Smith.
1. Production of material goods. Basics of life of human society
The concept of “method of production of material goods” was first introduced into the social function by Marx and Engels. Each production method is based on a certain material and technical basis. The method of producing material goods is a certain type of people’s life activity, a certain way of obtaining the means of life necessary to satisfy the material. and spiritual needs. The method of producing material goods is the dialectical unity of productive forces and production relations.
Productive forces are those forces (h-k, means and objects of labor) with the help of which society influences nature and changes it. Means of labor (machines, machine tools) are a thing or a set of things that a person places between himself and the object of labor (raw materials, auxiliary materials). The division and cooperation of public PS contributes to the development of materials. production and society, improvement of tools, distribution of materials. benefits, wages.
Production relations are relations regarding ownership of the means of production, exchange of activities, distribution and consumption. The materiality of P.O. is expressed in the fact that they are formed in the process of material production, exist independently of the consciousness of people, and are objective in nature.
Society is a certain set of interacting people with the goal of maintaining their lives, producing and reproducing the conditions of their existence. A single individual could not form a social group, whatever it may be, he could not be a “society”, and his consciousness could not be social, i.e. he was not a person either. Society arises historically in the presence of a certain minimum of interacting individuals who, despite their uniqueness, have common needs, interests and goals. One of these goals is joint labor activity, through which food is obtained, housing is built, etc., and at the same time, initial thinking and a means of communication - language - develop. Labor was the source of the emergence and development of society. Labor (as an integral social phenomenon) refers to material activity, to the material sphere of society.
Human work includes several aspects, including a spiritual component - purposefulness. Activity, in fact, is also characteristic of many representatives of the animal world, for example, beavers building dams, birds creating nests. But human labor activity differs from such “work” in that it is based not so much on instinct as on awareness of the goal, on the ideal. Human work is inseparable from the consciousness that begins historically or from the subsequently developing consciousness, from the setting of more and more branching goals. Labor activity associated with the development of not only new phenomena, but also the essences of objects, forms new ideal models and encourages their implementation. Purposefulness of activity (although it can sometimes be chaotic and instinctive) is a characteristic feature of a person.
The creative-cultural understanding of labor does not in any way downplay the role of its economic interpretation. If we do not complete the characterization of labor by its culturological scale, but, on the contrary, start with it and go in depth and into the relationship of types of labor in our consideration, then we will ultimately come to the conclusion that the first concept (or rather, the first approach) is the original , the starting point for understanding labor, and society as a whole. Indeed, in order to write novels, create musical works, manage people, etc., it is necessary that the writer, musician or manager have food, clothing and many other material things, and all this, as we know, does not fall from the clouds, as rain, but is produced by people in their material and production sphere. Scientists need many instruments (microscope, encephalograph, etc., even paper or pencil, which they use and which they receive from material and production activities. But if we remove other types of labor from this activity, which is permissible, then reduce them it is impossible to approach it; it is necessary to see the originality of different types of labor activity that characterize the multifaceted nature of society, its material and spiritual culture.
Whatever concept of workers we adhere to (and we must still admit that from a philosophical point of view the second is more correct, which, by the way, includes the first under certain reservations and limitations), the understanding of labor remains in principle the same. Labor is the material basis for the functioning and development of society.
Let us now get acquainted directly with the structure of material production (spiritual production refers to the spiritual sphere of society). Here, productive forces and production relations are traditionally distinguished.
Labor is the basis of material production, the basis of the productive forces of society. Paying tribute to tradition, we can point out that the productive forces consist of: means of labor and people armed with certain knowledge and skills and putting these means of labor into action. Means of labor include tools, machines, machine complexes, computers, robots, etc. By themselves, of course, they cannot produce anything. The main productive force is people; but they in themselves also do not constitute productive forces. Noting that people are the main productive force, we mean their potential to become such a force; and most importantly - their connection, interaction with the means of labor and production (in the process of such interaction) of material goods, means of providing services (including in health care, science, education) and means of production. People represent living labor (or the personal element of production), and the means of labor represent accumulated labor (or the material element of production). All material production is a unity of living and accumulated labor. These are the two sides, or subsystems, of the productive forces, as they were presented in most textbooks on philosophy until the 90s of the last century. However, such a view, based on the Marxist tradition, turns out to be insufficiently complete. Increasingly, technology (or technological process) and production process management, including the inclusion of computers, are being added to the subsystems of productive forces. This third subsystem is complemented by a fourth subsystem - production and economic infrastructure. It includes parts, or elements, of the economic process that are of a subordinate, auxiliary nature, ensuring the normal functioning of a specific enterprise, a set of enterprises within a particular region or the national economy as a whole. The production and economic infrastructure includes transport, railways and highways, industrial and residential (belonging to a particular department) buildings, public utilities that support production, etc. Knowledge (or science) should also be included in the productive forces. Already K. Marx noted that science was becoming (this referred to the 19th century) the productive force of society. He believed that scientific knowledge is the “universal productive force”; the accumulation of knowledge and skills, according to K. Marx, is the essence of “the accumulation of the general productive forces of the social brain.” Subsequently, orthodox Marxists, right up to the end of the 20th century, continued to claim, apparently fearing accusations of revisionism, that the productive forces consist of only two subsystems, and that science supposedly continues to only “become” a productive force in the 20th century. Meanwhile, already from the beginning of the latest scientific and technological revolution, i.e., from about the middle of the 20th century, a historically significant phenomenon became obvious, which was the transformation of science into the direct productive force of society. D. Bell, for example, wrote in 1976 that the main features of post-industrial society include, first of all, “the central role of theoretical knowledge.” He explained: “Every society has always relied on knowledge, but only today the systematization of the results of theoretical research and materials science is becoming the basis of technological innovation. This is noticeable primarily in new, knowledge-intensive industries - in the production of computers, electronic, optical equipment, polymers - which marked its development over the last third of the century."
Property occupies a key place in the system of industrial relations (sometimes it is interpreted as “property relations”). Economic property relations have legal registration and are fixed by legal acts.
Property relations are of different types - ownership, non-ownership, co-ownership, use, disposal. A special form of ownership is intellectual and spiritual: for works of art, scientific discoveries, etc.
At the very beginning of the development of society, there was no property as such (for things, for people); it was, more correctly, personal property within a tribe, community and was called (taking into account the fact that people were forced to cooperate their means and efforts in hunting, fishing, farming) “communal”, “tribal”, “collectively personal”. During cooperation, the division of labor was also used - between women and men, between adults and children, between people with different skills, etc., and the distribution of the benefits received was carried out with the intention not to allow either oneself or one's relatives to die. Subsequently (with the improvement of means of labor, division of labor activities, etc.), such an amount of food and other goods began to appear that individuals could feed not only themselves, but also some of their fellow tribesmen or people of another tribe; the possibility arose of not killing those captured in clashes with another group of people, but using them as labor and thereby accumulating property (the prisoners themselves - producers of material wealth - were considered things).
2. Production and resources.Problems of limited resources
Modern problems of irrational use of resources
It is clear that resources are indeed limited and it is necessary to treat them sparingly. When using resources irrationally, it is necessary to talk about the problem of their limitation, because if you do not stop the waste of a resource, in the future, when it is needed, it simply will not exist. But, although the problem of limited resources has long been clear, in different countries one can see clear examples of wasting resources. An important area is the certification of energy-consuming, energy-saving and diagnostic equipment, materials, structures, vehicles and, of course, energy resources. All this is based on a combination of interests of consumers, suppliers and producers of energy resources, as well as on the interest of legal entities in the efficient use of energy resources. At the same time, even using the example of the middle Urals, 25-30 million tons of fuel equivalent (tce) are consumed annually in the region, and approximately 9 million tce are used irrationally. . It turns out that it is mainly imported fuel and energy resources (FER) that are spent irrationally. At the same time, about 3 million tons of fuel equivalent. can be reduced through organizational measures. Most energy saving plans have this goal, but have not yet been able to achieve it.
Another example of the irrational use of minerals is the open-pit coal mine near Angren. In addition, at the previously developed deposits of non-ferrous metals Ingichka, Kuytash, Kalkamar, Kurgashin, losses during ore mining and enrichment reached 20-30%. At the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant several years ago, accompanying components such as molybdenum, mercury, and lead were not completely smelted from the processed ore. In recent years, thanks to the transition to the integrated development of mineral deposits, the degree of non-production losses has decreased significantly, but complete rationalization is still far away.
The government has approved a program aimed at stopping soil degradation, which causes annual economic damage of more than $200 million.
But so far the program is only being introduced into agriculture, and currently 56.4% of all agricultural land is affected by degradation processes of varying degrees. According to scientists, the processes of soil degradation have intensified in recent decades as a result of the irrational use of land resources, a decrease in the area of protective forest plantations, the destruction of anti-erosion hydraulic structures, and natural disasters. The program for irrigation and erosion control work is to be financed from extra-budgetary funds of interested ministries and departments, funds from the purchase and sale of public lands, from the collection of land tax, from the funds of business entities and the state budget. According to experts involved in agricultural support programs, the problem of soil degradation is worsening every day, but the implementation of the state program is more than problematic in conditions of financial deficit. The state will not be able to raise the necessary funds, and economic entities in the agricultural sector do not have the funds to invest in soil protection measures. In 2003-2004 The government has developed 15 concepts, 16 strategies and 39 state or sectoral programs. How long will it take before the program produces results? And how many land resources will I have time to fall into disrepair during this time?
A fundamentally important property of biological resources is their ability to reproduce themselves. However, as a result of the ever-increasing anthropogenic impact on the environment and excessive exploitation, the raw material potential of biological resources is declining, and the populations of many plant and animal species are degrading and are in danger of extinction. Therefore, in order to organize the rational use of biological resources, it is necessary, first of all, to ensure environmentally sound limits for their exploitation (withdrawal), which prevent depletion and loss of the ability of biological resources to reproduce themselves.
3. Main economic problems facing society
The main economic task is to choose the most effective option for the distribution of production factors in order to solve the problem of limited opportunities, which is caused by the unlimited needs of society and limited resources. An individual can provide himself with the necessary goods in various ways: produce them himself, exchange them for other goods, receive them as a gift. Society as a whole cannot have everything immediately. Because of this, it must decide what it would like to have immediately, what it can wait to get, and what it can refuse altogether. Developed countries, for example, put a lot of effort into improving the production of a limited range of goods in order to achieve some success in competition with other countries. These could be cars, computers or other goods. Sometimes the choice can be very difficult. The so-called "underdeveloped countries" are so poor that the efforts of most of the workforce are spent just feeding and clothing the country's population. In such countries, living standards can be raised by increasing production. But since the labor force is fully employed, it is not easy to increase the level of social production. It is possible, of course, to modernize the equipment in order to increase production volume. But this requires a restructuring of the national economy. Some resources will be switched from the production of consumer goods to the production of capital goods, the construction of industrial buildings, and the production of machinery and equipment. Such a restructuring of production will reduce the standard of living in the name of its future increase. However, in countries with low living standards, even a slight decrease in the output of consumer goods can push a large number of people to the brink of poverty. There are different options for producing the entire set of goods, as well as each good separately. By whom, from what resources, using what technology should they be produced? Through what organization of production? For different projects, you can build an industrial and residential building, for different projects you can produce cars, or use a plot of land. The building can be multi-story or one-story, a car can be assembled on a conveyor belt or by hand, a plot of land can be sown with corn or wheat. Some buildings are built by private individuals, others by the state (for example, schools). The decision to build cars in one country is made by a government agency, in another - by private firms. The use of land can be carried out either at the request of farmers, or with the participation or decision of government agencies. Since the number of goods and services created is limited, the problem of their distribution arises. Who should use these products and services and derive value? Should all members of society receive the same share or should there be poor and rich, what should be the share of both? What should be given priority - intelligence or physical strength? The solution to this problem determines the goals of society and the incentives for its development.
4. Ways and factors for increasing the efficiency of social production in the Republic of Belarus
The transition to market relations requires profound changes in the economy - a decisive sphere of human activity. It is necessary to make a sharp turn towards the intensification of production, to reorient every enterprise, organization, and firm towards the full and primary use of quality factors of economic growth. A transition to an economy of higher organization and efficiency with comprehensively developed productive forces and production relations, and a well-functioning economic mechanism must be ensured. To a large extent, the necessary conditions for this are created by the market economy.
When justifying and analyzing all indicators of economic efficiency, factors for increasing production efficiency in the main areas of development and improvement of production are taken into account. These areas cover complexes of technical, organizational and socio-economic measures, on the basis of which savings in living labor, costs and resources are achieved, and improvement in the quality and competitiveness of products.
The most important factors for increasing production efficiency here are:.
Accelerating scientific and technological progress, increasing the technical level of production, manufactured and mastered products (improving their quality), innovation policy;
Structural restructuring of the economy, its focus on the production of consumer goods, conversion of defense enterprises and industries, improvement of the reproductive structure of capital investments (priority of reconstruction and technical re-equipment of existing enterprises), accelerated development of knowledge-intensive, high-tech industries;
Improving the development of diversification, specialization and
Cooperation, combination and territorial organization of production, improvement of the organization of production and labor in enterprises and associations;
Denationalization and privatization of the economy, improvement of state regulation, economic accounting and work motivation systems;
Strengthening socio-psychological factors, activating the human factor based on democratization and decentralization of management, increasing the responsibility and creative initiative of workers, comprehensive personal development, strengthening the social orientation in the development of production (increasing the general educational and professional level of workers, improving working conditions and safety precautions, improving culture production, environmental improvement).
Among all the factors for increasing efficiency and increasing the intensification of production, the decisive place belongs to the denationalization and privatization of the economy, scientific and technological progress and the intensification of human activity, strengthening the personal factor (communication, cooperation, coordination, commitment), increasing the role of people in the production process. All other factors are interdependent on these decisive factors.
Depending on the location and scope of implementation, ways to increase efficiency are divided into national (state), sectoral, territorial and intra-production. In the economic science of countries with developed market relations, these paths are divided into two groups: intra-production and external or factors affecting changes in profit and controlled by the company and uncontrollable factors to which the company can only adapt. The second group of factors are specific market conditions, prices for products, raw materials, supplies, energy, exchange rates, bank interest, the government procurement system, taxation, tax benefits, etc.
The most diverse group of intra-production factors is on the scale of an enterprise, association, or firm. Their quantity and content are specific to each enterprise, depending on its specialization, structure, operating time, current and future tasks. They cannot be unified and the same for all enterprises.
The transition to a market economy makes a number of significant adjustments to the theory and practice of assessing economic efficiency, selecting and implementing optimal options for production and economic decisions.
Firstly, the economic responsibility for the production and economic decisions taken is significantly increased in comparison with the justification of the effectiveness of the decisions made in the conditions of total nationalization of the economy, when gratuitous financing of capital investments prevailed and enterprises essentially did not bear material responsibility for the reliability of the assessment and the actual effectiveness of technical and organizational activities, compliance with design and actual effectiveness.
The situation is completely different in a market economy, when the owner of the funds bears full financial responsibility for the final financial results of production activities, i.e. personalization of material and financial responsibility occurs. Under these conditions, calculations and justification of economic efficiency are no longer of a formal nature, as was the case in a centrally controlled economy, when, as a rule, the design and actual effectiveness of decisions made did not coincide.
Secondly, increased responsibility for decisions made is closely connected with an increase in the degree of risk in investment activities and production development, when the regulator of production is mainly market relations, which requires a whole system of insurance, independent examination of projects, and the use of the services of consulting firms.
Thirdly, taking into account the dynamism of production and investment, the importance of assessing the time factor in justifying and achieving financial results based on discounting (compound interest formula) is increasing.
Fourthly, in contrast to the command-administrative management system in conditions of market relations and a variety of forms of ownership, instead of uniform, centrally approved economic norms and efficiency standards, individual standards are applied, formed under the influence of the market. At the same time, individual norms are very dynamic; they change over time under the influence of the market. They are taken into account in the economic justification of the effectiveness of decisions made (profit rates for enterprises, depreciation rates, consumption rates of raw materials).
Thus, to summarize all of the above, we present all the main ways to increase efficiency in the form of a diagram:
The most important factor in increasing the efficiency of social production and ensuring its high efficiency has been and remains scientific and technological progress. Until recently, scientific and technical progress proceeded evolutionarily. Preference was given to improving existing technologies and partial modernization of machinery and equipment. Such measures produced a certain but insignificant return. There were insufficient incentives for the development and implementation of measures for new technology. In modern conditions of the formation of market relations, revolutionary, qualitative changes are needed, a transition to fundamentally new technologies, to technology of subsequent generations - a radical re-equipment of all sectors of the national economy based on the latest achievements of science and technology. The most important areas of scientific and technical progress: widespread development of advanced technologies, automation of production, creation of the use of new types of materials.
One of the important factors in intensifying and increasing production efficiency is the economy mode. Resource conservation must become a decisive source of meeting the growing demand for fuel, energy, raw materials and materials. Industry plays an important role in resolving all these issues. It is necessary to create and equip the national economy with machines and equipment that ensure high efficiency in the use of structural and other materials, raw materials and fuel and energy resources, the creation and use of highly efficient low-waste and waste-free technological processes. That is why modernization of the domestic mechanical engineering industry is so necessary - a decisive condition for accelerating scientific and technical progress and reconstructing the entire national economy. We must not forget about the use of secondary resources.
In the Republic of Belarus, according to the plans of the initiators of market reforms, the solution to the problem of raising the national economy should have occurred automatically, with the transition from a socialist, state form of ownership to a capitalist, private form. It was assumed that the “collapse of the communist system” would lead to a rapid improvement in economic indicators and an increase in living standards.
However, the expected miracle did not happen. During the reforms, it became clear that hopes for an automatic solution to the issues of reviving production were groundless. Moreover, the campaign for denationalization and privatization of state property in many cases resulted in the direct destruction of productive forces, a reduction in production output, and theft of state (national) property. Thus, the problem of reforming property relations is not as simple as it seemed, and its results are not as obvious. The explanation for this must be sought in the fact that the problem under consideration includes two separate, although closely interrelated aspects:
Firstly, this is the transfer of property relations inherited from a centrally planned economy to a liberal market one;
Secondly, this is a solution to the issue of increasing the overall efficiency of the national economy, ensuring its competitiveness, and achieving world indicators in productivity and product quality.
As for the first aspect (market-capitalist reform of property relations), everything is quite clear here. There are many recommendations in this regard, coming both from international organizations and from government experts and business circles. Everyone agrees that there are unshakable general patterns and principles of reform policies, neglecting which only means repeating the mistakes of others and one’s own, and that there is a so-called world market order that forces all countries to bring their economies up to world standards.
There is also a consensus regarding the reform mechanism. It is based on a radical transformation of property relations - denationalization and privatization of state (republican and municipal) property, support for private entrepreneurship, the creation of a “real” (“responsible”) owner-owner. If we talk about the rise of national production, bringing it to global levels, then, despite the measures taken, frequent adjustments to the course of reforms, there are no noticeable shifts in this direction.
Countless recommendations of international financial and banking organizations regarding property reform, as well as legislative acts of Belarus on issues of denationalization and privatization, with inevitable differences, are united by one common property: as a rule, their ultimate targets are to consolidate the priority of privatization, determine the conditions and mechanisms for its implementation, and develop measures to support private entrepreneurship. As evidenced by the analysis of such documents, the formal administrative and legal side of the matter prevails.
However, the main thing is not even this, but the fact that reforming property relations and restructuring the economy are conceived and implemented exclusively at the level of individual enterprises. Paradoxically, the adopted approach completely overlooks the aspect of increasing the efficiency of national production as a whole - on its state, national scale. The solution to this key task is, as it were, postponed “for later”, associated with an endless chain of bankruptcies, reorganizations, disaggregation of industrial “giants”, demonopolization and direct liquidation of enterprises.
Increasing production efficiency is considered only in relation to individual enterprises. Moreover, efficiency means achieving sufficient profitability of production, regardless of the field of activity and the products produced.
One of the main goals of privatization in Russia (as in Belarus) was to increase the efficiency of enterprises. However, the studies conducted, as a rule, do not allow us to conclude that a turning point in efficiency has already occurred and non-state sector enterprises are performing better than state-owned enterprises.
However, it should be noted that the results were obtained by direct comparison of the indicators of economic activity of an enterprise in two sectors and in this regard are quite rough. Although we can say from them that non-state enterprises are slightly ahead of state-owned enterprises. And if we take into account the fact that the conditions of demand for the products of the latter in this period were much more favorable, then we can see that if they were the same for non-state enterprises, then their efficiency would be noticeably higher than that of state-owned enterprises.
In order to obtain more consumer goods in the future, people are forced to direct part of their current labor to create production goods - physical capital. Investments represent resources spent on the creation of capital goods.
Capital goods wear out and become unusable as they are used. Investments can be directed both to the reproduction of worn-out capital goods, which is necessary for the production of consumer goods on the same scale (simple reproduction), and to the production of additional capital goods, which is necessary for the expanded reproduction of consumer goods.
The entire volume of investments made in the economy during a certain reporting period is called gross investment. Part of the investment going to the reproduction of worn-out capital goods is carried out through depreciation charges. The increase in the volume of capital goods occurs due to the expenditure of additional resources, called net investment.
Each time a net investment (capital investment) is made, the current productive physical capital increases by the same value in current prices of net investment.
However, the value of all production capital will change during this period also under the influence of inflationary processes.
Conclusion
Social production is, first of all, human production. But this does not mean at all that social production is the sum of productions, which includes human production. The entire system of social production in the unity of its component parts (material, spiritual and social) is subordinated to human production.
Material production forms the basis of social production, because without the production of material conditions and means of life, the very life of people is impossible. But in addition to material production, social production also includes spiritual production, consumption production, human production and the production of the entire system of social relations, which together constitute the social “fabric” of society. They serve the production and reproduction of man as the top in this peculiar hierarchy.
List of sources used
1. V.Ya. Iokhin “Economic Theory”, Moscow, LAWYER, 2000
2. E.F. Borisov “Economic theory in questions and answers”, Moscow, LAWYER, 2000
3. Edited by D.D. Moskvin “Fundamentals of economic theory. Political Economy”, Editorial URSS, Moscow, 2001
4. Smith A. “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” M. 2005
5. S.V. Mocherny, V.N. Nekrasov, V.N. Ovchinnikov, V.V. Secretaryuk V.V.
6. E. Raichlin “Fundamentals of economic theory. Microeconomic theory of product markets", Moscow 2000
7. “Economic theory: Course of lectures”, Irkutsk, IGEA publishing house, 1996
8. “Economic theory: Reader”, comp. E.F. Borisov, Moscow, Higher School, 2000
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Subject, structure, methodology and functions of economic theory. Production is the process of creating material goods. Production capabilities of society. Economic systems, their main types. The essence of the market, its elements. Markets for factors of production.
1. The concept of production. Material and intangible production. Product of labor, its types
2. Resources and factors of production. Limited resources
and the problem of choice. Production possibility curve.
Opportunity cost.
To meet the ever-increasing needs of people
certain resources are required. Resources– this is owl
the totality of all the necessary conditions used to create
good; these are the capabilities that the
society ultimately meets its needs
news
Resources are divided into exhaustible And inexhaustible,
reproducible And irreproducible. Among the resources there are
are economic, considered from the point of view of limited
ness and rarity.
There are natural resources, i.e. given by nature(land and
its bowels, forests, waters); labor(people with their skills and abilities-
we are of working age); capital(means of production
property - means and objects of labor) (Diagram 2.4).
The resources involved in the production process take form -
mu factors of production. There are such factors of production
leadership, How work, land, capital, entrepreneurial ability
and information (Figure 2.5).
Labor process– conscious purposeful activity
human, aimed at transforming the substance of nature for the sake of
satisfy your needs. The concept of “labor” is closely related
but with such concepts as “labor” and “person”. Working
strength is a person’s ability to work, a set of physical
and intellectual abilities realized in the process of work
howl activity. Man is the bearer of labor power. All these three
concepts characterize labor as a factor of production.
Capital as a factor of production it is means of production
stva, used in the production process. They include pre-
methods and means of labor. Means of labor- This thing or complex
things with which or with the help of which a person produces goods. Medium
labor conditions include tools, what a person is directly
directly affects objects of labor (machines, equipment,
tools). The second element of the means of labor is material conditions
Via labor(buildings, structures, roads, bridges). Third - containers
(tanks, boxes, barrels) used for storing raw materials and go-
commodity products.
Objects of labor- this is what a person’s work is aimed at, or
that from which goods are produced. Objects of labor include
objects of labor, given by nature(land and minerals),
And raw materials(items that have been processed by humans and are intended for
designated for further processing). Raw materials, in turn,
divided by finished products(fit for final consumption
and intended for further processing), and semi-finished
You(objects of labor for final consumption are necessarily three-
upcoming improvements). Semi-finished products include pasta,
dumplings, flour, for finished products - milk, bread, apples.
Entrepreneurial ability is a human ability
to engage in business activities. Enterprise
maternal ability includes the following characteristic features:
take risks with your own capital; ability to connect
single factors of production; make decisions and bear responsibility for them
responsibility; always be in creative search.
Society's needs are limitless, but resources are limited.
Limited resources- a problem that everyone faces
economic entities – both poor and rich, and individual people,
both enterprises and countries. However, this problem is relatively
ny, not absolute character. Firstly, in the future the number
resources may change, and secondly, whatever the
Because of the resources, they still won’t be enough to satisfy everyone
unlimited human needs. In conditions of limited
resources, the subject always faces the problem of choice. But having chosen
one option for using the resource, the subject must refuse
from other alternative uses. Alter-
native value- This the most preferred option
use of a limited resource from which it was necessary to
seem.
The problem of choice finds its expression in the production curve
natural capabilities (CPV) (diagram 2.6). Production curve
new opportunities– is the locus of points (E, L, M,
F, etc.), showing many alternative options
maximum production of two goods with full utilization
availability of all resources. The curve has a descending shape, because for increasing
calculation of the production of one product, with constant resources, it is necessary
reduce production of another good. The curve has a convex
type, because resources are not completely interchangeable. And with more
increasing the production of one good, one must give up everything
more of the other, i.e. the opportunity cost increases.
Point D on the graph shows what is desirable but unattainable
given resources, the option of producing two goods. Point C
characterizes the option of incomplete use of resources when
there is a chronic underutilization of production capacity, without
worker
Over time, when the amount of resources used changes
appears, the production possibilities curve may shift
left or right. When the amount of resources in a country increases
is growing (immigration, birth rates are growing, new deposits are being discovered
minerals), production possibilities curve
shifts to the right, indicating an increase in the production of goods.
In the event of a reduction in the number of resources used as a result
due to wars, natural disasters, epidemics, exhaustion of deposits
mineral production possibility curve
shifts to the left, which indicates a reduction in production volumes
production.
In order to exist, a person must be constantly satisfied
meet your needs, which requires certain
resources. Resources are limited, they are always not enough to satisfy
meet people's unlimited needs. Therefore, a person always
Yes, I am faced with the problem of choice. Disclosure of these issues will be
this topic is covered.
Need- This is a person’s need for something. Needs
must be distinguished from desires. There are classifications of need-
stey according to various characteristics. By degree of priority satisfactory
satisfaction needs are divided into primary (in products
food, clothing, shoes, furniture) and secondary (in education, furniture)
medical services, tourism, etc.). By shape as required
divided into material (clothing, shoes, housing), spiritual
(books, music), social (in respect, in work). According to
saturation ku needs can be divided into satiable
(in food products, consumer durables)
vaniya) and unsaturated (in tourism, sports, self-development). From the point-
from the subject's point of view, individual needs are distinguished (from
efficient person), collective (groups of people, enterprises)
and public (needs of society as a whole for public
goods - museums, parks, lighthouses). By direction demand
ties are divided into personal (individual subjects in objects
consumption) and production (the needs of enterprises for
means of production), Consumables- these are the benefits that
which are used by individuals to satisfy their
personal needs (food, clothing, housing,
durable consumer goods). Means of production
leadership is a set of means of labor (machines, equipment,
with the help of which goods and objects are produced
labor (raw materials, materials from which goods are produced). Medium
Two production products are consumed by enterprises (firms) in the process
all production of goods. By position in the hierarchical system
needs are divided into absolute, real,
potential, real, actual. Absolute needs
(highest level) represent the ideal, internal
incentive to consume. These are common needs in
clothing, food, spiritual development, etc. They exist throughout
research on the entire history of human existence. Valid
needs(second level) are relative in nature
and they represent objective, that is, consciously meaningful,
human need for specific consumer goods
(consumer goods and services) necessary for expanded
high reproduction of labor force and comprehensive development
personality. They characterize the general potential opportunities
ness of society. Real needs(third level) can
be satisfied at any given moment with the available opportunities
production capabilities and social conditions. Payment
capable needs(fourth level) - these are the needs
conditions, which in market conditions can be realistically satisfied
meet certain volumes of supply of goods and services,
and they are necessarily provided with cash coverage. Actually
what needs(the lowest, fifth level) determine -
by the volume of means of subsistence, which can practically
ensure the physical survival of a person (Diagram 2.1).
The most common in economic literature is
yes classification of needs according to A. Maslow(diagram 2.2). Sa-
The most important needs are physiological. These are the basic needs
ness. Higher level needs are for safety. These
All living organisms have two types of needs. Needs
in social contacts, in respect - of a higher level, they
are unique to humans. The need for self-development is
highest.
The amount of needs is adjustable universal economic
the law of increasing needs(diagram 2.3). Accordingly
With this law, the magnitude and structure of needs determine
depends on the level of development of the productive forces.
The level of development of productive forces, in turn, depends
on the level of human development (his education, qualifications, cultural
tours) and means of production.
The magnitude of the needs also depends on the education of the people,
their level of income, environment, age, gender, etc.
The mediating link between people's needs and the resources with which they can be satisfied is production process.
Some resources are goods ready for consumption. These include air, sunlight, water. But most resources require some modification or manipulation by humans before they become ready for consumption. Before being consumed, many utilities require labor to obtain and appropriate them. Under labor, First of all, one should understand “the process taking place between man and nature, a process in which man, by his own activity, mediates, regulates and controls the exchange of substances between himself and nature.” Initially, labor exists in a pure form and then takes the form of production. Historically, the original and today the simplest forms of labor were and are gathering, hunting, and fishing. They ensure the appropriation of nature's finished products. In this case, there is labor, but no production.
Production is the process of human influence on the substance of nature in order to create material wealth. In this process, man modifies the substance of nature. At the same time, changes in the substance of nature can occur both under the influence of the forces of nature and under the influence of human labor. The labor process is impossible without the direct participation of a person, while the production process can continue without it. For example, growing wheat requires relatively little human involvement in the production process. This is mainly sowing seeds and harvesting and some hydrochemical work provided for by the production technology. The rest of the time, wheat is grown without human intervention, under the influence of the forces of nature.
Thus, production is not limited to labor alone. The labor process is the main, but not the only component of the production process. Natural factors play an important role in production.
The labor process as the main element of the production process is impossible without the presence of its three simple elements: objects of labor, means of labor, and human labor itself.
Objects of labor- this is what is transformed in the process of production of material goods. In the process of labor, a person influences objects of labor, modifying them to a state suitable for consumption. Objects of labor that have already undergone the influence of human labor, but intended for further processing, are called raw material, or raw materials. For example, iron ore in a mine is an object of labor, but not a raw material, since it has not yet been exposed to human labor. And iron ore intended for use, for example, in metallurgy, is already a raw material and a subject for further processing.
A person does not operate objects of labor with his bare hands. What he places between himself and the objects of labor and with the help of this influences the objects of labor is called means labor.
Of all the means of labor, mechanical means of labor are of greatest importance - machines, tools, i.e. tools of production. With their help, a person directly influences objects of labor. The means of labor also include industrial buildings, roads, communications, etc., the so-called vascular system of the production process. Instruments of production belong to the active part of the means of labor, and buildings, structures, etc., to the passive part.
Objects and means of labor are collectively called means of production. During the production process they act as real factor.
The third component of the labor process is the work or purposeful human activity. Labor is the exclusive heritage of man. Man - and this is one of his main differences from animals - works consciously, that is, he purposefully mediates, regulates and controls the metabolism between himself and nature, produces and reproduces the means of existence he needs.
In order to work, people must be carriers work force. Labor power is understood as the totality of physical and spiritual abilities possessed by the body, the living personality of a person, which are put into action by him whenever he produces any material goods. In the production process, labor power acts as personal factor.
Thus , In the production process, the means of production are material, and labor is a personal factor of production. Note that not all resources are factors of production, but only those that are used in the production process.
Marx K. and Engels F. Op. – ed. 2nd. – T. 23. – P. 188.
The production process offers at least three conditions: who will do it, from what and by what means. Therefore, the main factors of production - labor, land, capital - have always been deeply studied by economic science.
Labor is a purposeful human activity aimed at transforming the substance of nature in order to satisfy one’s needs. In other words, the goal of the work is to obtain a specific result - a product or service. So, productive labor, according to Alfred Marshall, can be called any work, with the exception of that which does not achieve the set goal, and therefore does not create any utility. A person doing work is labor power, that is, a set of intellectual, physical and spiritual abilities realized in the process of producing certain utilities.
Labor is an active and dynamic factor of production. The most perfect system of machines, liquid earth resources remain potential factors until they are put to use by man. The miracles that modern means of long-distance communication perform, computer systems with the help of which people solve unique scientific fundamental and applied problems, the use of personal computers for domestic purposes - all this is a consequence of programs developed by man and embedded in modern machines. Without human labor that inspires, they will remain unclaimed, will not work and will not feed people. Only creative, intellectual and physical work can transform them into a means of creating material goods and services.
At the same time, labor power, a factor of production, is effective only in conjunction with material factors - objects and means of labor. The subject of labor is, first of all, the substance of nature towards which human labor is directed. Land occupies a special place here. Land is the main means of production in agriculture, a storehouse of minerals for people, the source of life for all life on the planet. It can be argued that, in a sense, there are only two factors of production - nature and man.
Another material factor of production is the means of labor, what a person uses to act on objects of labor. The main place among the means of labor is occupied by tools - modern machines, machines, equipment and their systems. Material factors are usually called means of production, and together with labor - the productive forces of society. The life activity of people always, and especially in modern conditions, occurs in the process of division of labor and its cooperation. Without close interaction between people of different professions within the national economy, without international economic integration, which is increasingly deepening, the modern economy cannot develop more or less effectively. As a result of in-depth economic interaction, a certain type of production relations between people is formed.
The very Marxist statement of the mode of production as the unity of productive forces and production relations is hardly vulnerable to serious criticism. Of course, if we abstract from the priority of the class approach and the political conclusions arising from the concept of Karl Marx. In modern conditions, when a person has realized himself and his life as a cosmic phenomenon, the creator and subject of the noosphere - the sphere of reason, universal human values come to the fore and become decisive, as well as problems, the solution of which is possible only through the efforts of the entire world community. These are global, universal problems - preserving the human environment, providing people with food, energy, raw materials, rational development of the resources of the earth, the World Ocean, and space.
The nature of the combination of material and personal factors in different economic systems has its own characteristics. Ownership of the means of production plays a decisive role. When the means of production belong to the direct producer, the nature of the combination of material and personal factors is direct, immediate. If the labor force is deprived of the means of production, then the nature of the combination is different. And here there are two options - violence and interest. Violence is characteristic of the era of slavery and totalitarian regimes, and interest is characteristic of a contractual or market system. In a market system, labor power and means of production are transformed into an object of purchase and sale, that is, capital.
In economic theory, the category “capital” occupies a special place, so discussions about its nature have not stopped for centuries. Marxism viewed capital from a class perspective as value, which creates surplus value for the capitalist. Additional value is the result of unpaid and appropriated labor of employees. Capital in the Marxist interpretation is an economic category that expresses historically defined social-production relations between the capitalist class and the hired labor force. Material factors of production, such as labor, are transformed into capital only under conditions of capitalist ownership, since they express relations of exploitation and oppression in a class-antagonistic society. The nature of the combination of these factors here is economic coercion, which only superficially resembles the relationship of equal commodity owners.
Other economic schools view the essence of capital differently. More often, capital is considered an ahistorical category. David Ricardo called the tools of the primitive hunter capital. According to Adam Smith, the embodiment of capital is property from which its owner expects to withdraw income. Jean Baptiste Sey, developing Adam Smith's ideas about the essence of capital, considered labor, land and capital as independent sources of income for the corresponding classes under capitalism. Alfred Marshall referred to capital as the entire "accumulated supply of means for the production of material goods and for the attainment of those advantages which are usually considered part of income." He argued that "a large part of capital consists of knowledge and organization, one part being privately owned and the other not." It is unnecessary to cite here the points of view of other economists - John Clark, John Dewey, Paul Samuelson, since their interpretation of capital, differing in details, generally coincides with the above concepts.
It is necessary to recall the concept of “human capital”, which is becoming extremely relevant right now in the context of the increasing role of intellectual labor in modern production. This concept is a development of Alfred Marshall's idea of the role of knowledge as the embodiment of a significant part of capital. Intelligence, knowledge, high professional level are accumulated “human capital”, which, realized in people’s daily activities, ensures that they receive a high income. Therefore, investing in education, science, and culture is an investment in “human capital” as the main engine of scientific and technological progress. It would be very good if in Ukraine not only economists, but also politicians understood this truth. Otherwise, the impoverishment of “human capital”, and this trend, unfortunately, has had a quite noticeable effect, dooms Ukraine to degradation and stagnation.
Meanwhile, in a post-industrial society, intelligence, knowledge, information, giving rise to new production and social technologies, bring humanity to a higher level, a higher degree of social progress.
Modern means of production are accumulated knowledge, materialized information. The rapid development of computer science, which combines the processes of creating, transmitting, storing and using information, the development of global communications via the Internet, new information technologies (yesterday they seemed like science fiction, but in modern conditions the reality of post-industrial countries) - all these factors have become powerful catalyst for the progress of society.
We are talking about entrepreneurship, a specific type of creative work in the field of economic activity. Entrepreneurship is an independent initiative activity of citizens and legal entities aimed at making a profit, carried out at their own risk and under property liability.
An entrepreneur is a person who has unique abilities and qualities that are realized in business activities. An entrepreneur is a leader, organizer, innovator. This is a person who generates new ideas, is focused on innovation, is able to define and formulate a goal, unite the team, and direct it to solve assigned problems. Will and perseverance are integral features of a real entrepreneur, responsibility for the decision made is his important quality. He is characterized by the ability to take risks, the desire to ensure profit for the company, he is similar to those who are called businessmen. However, an entrepreneur is a market phenomenon of the highest quality level. The famous economist and sociologist Joseph Schumpeter believed that profit for an entrepreneur is only a symbol of success. The main thing for him is to embark on an unknown path, where the usual order ends.
Entrepreneurship is a vital core, a “state of mind,” a calling inherent only to a select few. The production process is effective if the interaction of all factors is organized, complement and replace each other in certain combinations. An entrepreneur not only combines factors of production, but also finds their effective combination, while relying on “human capital” - a resource of unique quality. A leader who is unable to create a team and inspire people with incentives, not necessarily just material ones, will never achieve success. Ukraine still has to find entrepreneurs whose talent and will, multiplied by the efforts of the entire people, will lead the country to economic prosperity.
Production function, how to achieve the best combination of factors, how to determine the effectiveness of a particular factor in the total volume of goods produced? For this purpose, a production function is used, reflecting the quantitative relationship between the resulting volume of production and the production factors used. it can be done like this:
Q - F (a), a2, a3, ... a).
where Q is the volume of production, a, a2, a3, ... an are factors of production.
Since the factors are interchangeable, the optimal balance between them can be found at both the micro and macro levels.
The Douglas-Cobb production function is known in the economic literature, reflecting the dependence of production volume on the combination of two factors - capital and labor.
where Y is the volume of production K is capital; L - pratsya.
This is a static model. It does not reflect the changes occurring in the sphere of production over time, including technological progress, improvement of the organization of labor and production, qualitative changes in the use of labor, entrepreneurial activity, etc.
The production function can be converted into a dynamic model and expressed by the formula
Y = F (K, L, E, T),
where E is entrepreneurial ability; G-factor of time taking into account technical progress.
Other production function models are also used in theory and practice.
Therefore, the significance of the production function is that it makes it possible to determine the optimal combination of factors of production based on various combinations based on the interchangeability of factors and the possibility of their alternative use. economic labor capital entrepreneurship
So, the production of material goods is the basis of the life of human society. Production is carried out in human economic activity. Production activity involves a division of labor, which necessitates the exchange of activities and its results between participants in the production process. Therefore, production is a social process. It uses the following factors: labor, land, capital, entrepreneurship, information, science. The nature of the combination of factors can be direct or indirect. The direct nature of the combination of factors provides for private (public) ownership of the means of production, when the tools of labor belong to the direct producer. In the second case, when the means of production are separated from the direct producer, the combination of factors is mediated by the market mechanism.
The production of material goods and services is carried out in conditions of limited resources, which makes it possible to use them alternatively.
The constant reproduction of material goods is an indispensable condition for the existence of society. Before studying, engaging in science, politics, art, people must eat, have a home, dress, and for this they must constantly produce the necessary material goods. Concept "mode of production" reflects the existence of material production in historically specific forms (primitive communal, slave).
The method of production of material goods represents the unity of its two sides; productive forces and production relations.
The elements of productive forces are, first of all, People(active subject of labor) Production always requires people with the necessary knowledge and labor skills.
-Hence, the first creative force is labor.
Work in material production, it is a purposeful activity in which people, using the means they create, adapt objects of nature to meet their needs.
-The second factor (real) is the means of labor.( material things with the help of which people create goods). -The third factor (real) - objects of labor. (a thing or a set of things that a person modifies using means of labor.)
In order to set all factors in motion, it is necessary to find the correct relationships between all material elements of production and the number of workers. This problem is solved by technology that determines methods for processing natural and other substances and obtaining finished products. In the 20th century, the entire world became especially acutely aware of the limitations of production factors in comparison with the existing and growing level of needs. The task arises: to use the production potential of society as efficiently as possible, i.e. achieve the greatest satisfaction of needs with the least and rational expenditure of resources
Production relations are relationships between people that develop in the process of production, distribution and exchange. Economic ties between people are diverse.
There are two types of these connections: property relations (the corresponding socio-economic relations between people) and organizational and economic relations. Property relations- these are connections between large social groups, individual teams and members of society for the appropriation of factors and results of production. The decisive position in the economy belonged in the past, and now belongs to those who own the enterprises and everything. what is produced on them. A person, being an owner, receives a profit after selling industrial products, while a hired worker receives only wages. Organizational-economic relations arise because social production, distribution, exchange and consumption are impossible without a certain organization. This organization is required for any joint activity of people. At the same time, organizational problems are solved: 1) how to divide people to perform certain types of work and unite all those employed in the enterprise under a single command to achieve a common goal; 2) how to conduct business activities; 3) who and how will manage people’s production activities. In this regard, organizational and economic relations are divided into three large types: 1) division of labor and production
2) organization of economic activities in certain forms. 3) economic management
The main types of economic relations differ greatly from each other. Thus, socio-economic relations are specific; they are characteristic only of one historical era or one social system (for example, primitive communal, slaveholding). Therefore, they have a historically transient nature. Socio-economic relations change as a result of the transition from one specific form of ownership to another. In contrast, organizational and economic ties exist, as a rule, regardless of the socio-economic system. (in different social systems the same forms of economic organization (factories, combines, service enterprises), as well as general achievements of the scientific organization of labor and management can be successfully used.) It is only possible to consider productive forces and production relations separately from each other only conditionally. In reality, they exist as a single whole. Man is the main figure and productive forces. and industrial relations. The connection between the parties to production is expressed by the law of correspondence of production relations. When considering this law, it is necessary to take into account the following: - productive forces and production relations act as a unique content and form of the method of production and can function in unity; - productive forces are the most mobile, revolutionary element and play a decisive role in changing production relations; - production relations have relative independence and activity, providing a certain scope for productive forces, creating incentives for the development of production taking into account the interests of people; - the interaction of productive forces and production relations is contradictory. As a result of the continuous development of productive forces, a discrepancy periodically arises between them and the elements of production relations, requiring their replacement. This process can be carried out either through reforms or through revolutionary changes.
