What is not a factor of production? What are factors of production? Factors of production for a firm include

The study of the question of what belongs to the factors of production belongs to the kind of sacred cows of economic theory, which considers them as resources that are somehow attracted for production activities. Traditionally, the concept included such components as labor, land and capital. In the second half of the twentieth century, information was added to these components. Some researchers, in addition, isolated entrepreneurial talent from the concept of “labor” as a separate indicator.

An analysis of the processes occurring in the modern economy gives some grounds to assert that consideration of the structure of factors of production now requires certain additions and clarification.

If we consider what belongs to the factors of production from the point of view of the trends prevailing in the modern economy, then it becomes quite obvious that, for example, marketing has become a completely independent and important factor, the role of which in conditions of increasing competition is difficult to overestimate.

Here the task of meeting the needs of the market comes to the fore, which limits the use of administrative management methods and thereby increases market democracy and professionalism.

The classic model of competition is: “reduce the price, increase the quality, provide the buyer with additional benefits (in terms of payment, delivery, maintenance, etc.).” In addition, the implementation of the functions of competition and the positive consequences of its manifestations in the dynamics of the relationship between the price of consumption and the quality of goods, firstly, leads to the objective need to create a competitive environment. And this should be done not only in the interests of commodity producers, but, first of all, consumers and, secondly, this will directly connect the functions of competition with its benefits, both for companies and for the products they produce. In this case, it is quite appropriate to include one or another enterprise in the factors.

3. forces the enterprise, when forming its advantages, to take into account not only its own and industry interests, but also national and international conditions.

All this indicates that, answering the question of what refers to factors of production, we can state with a certain degree of confidence that competitive advantages have become a completely tangible and separate factor. To create them, the state needs to implement measures to create a competitive environment and protect competition, stimulate the constant introduction of innovations, optimize and improve government regulation, taking into account trends in the development of the global economy.

These advantages can be defined as the efficiency of an enterprise’s activities in any area, which, firstly, gives it the best (compared to competitors) opportunities to attract and retain consumers, and secondly, allows it to receive a stable profit and, on this basis, ensure the reproduction of the main capital.

2 .1 . Factors of production – 1) resources with the help of which the production of goods can be organized; 2) resources used in production, on which the quantity and volume of manufactured products largely depend; 3) factors used in the production of goods and services.

Factors of production = economic resources.

Economic resources (from French. ressource - auxiliary means) is a fundamental concept of economic theory, meaning sources, means of ensuring production.

Economic resources are divided into : 1) natural (raw materials, geophysical), 2) labor (human capital), 3) capital (physical capital), 4) working capital (materials), 5) information resources, 6) financial (monetary capital). This division is not strictly unambiguous.

The production process is the transformation of economic resources (factors of production) into goods and services.

2.2 . What are factors of production? ?

2.2.1. Version No. 1: Factors of production = economic resources: 1) labor (the activity of people in the production of goods and services by using their physical and mental capabilities); 2) land (all types of natural resources available on the planet and suitable for the production of economic benefits); 3) capital (industrial building, machines, tools). No less important is another factor that connects all the others, 4) entrepreneurial abilities.

2.2.2. Version No. 2: Factors of production = 1) labor + 2) means of production (natural resources + [produced resources = capital]).

2.2.3. Nowadays, another very specific type of production factors has acquired immeasurably greater importance than before - 5) information (knowledge and information that people need for conscious activity in the economic world). Possession of reliable information is a necessary condition for solving the problems facing an economic entity. However, even complete information is not a guarantee of success. The ability to use the information received to make the best decision under the current circumstances characterizes such a resource as knowledge. The carriers of this resource are qualified personnel in the field of management, sales and customer service, and product maintenance. It is this resource that gives the greatest return in business. “What distinguishes a strong company from a weak one is, first of all, the level of qualifications of its specialists and management staff, their knowledge, motivation and aspirations.

In addition to the listed factors, the following play an important role in the economy: 6) general culture; 7) science; 8) social factors (state of morality, legal culture).

2.3 . Work- a set of physical and mental abilities that people use in the process of creating economic wealth.

Labor characteristics : 1) labor intensity (labor intensity, which is determined by the degree of labor expenditure per unit of time); 2)labor productivity (performance = labor productivity, which is measured by the amount of products produced per unit of time).

2.4 . Under " earth"Economists understand all types of natural resources. This group includes free benefits (???) of nature that are used in the production process: plots of land on which industrial buildings are located, arable land on which crops are grown, forests, water, and mineral deposits.

2.5 . Capital(from lat. capitalis - main) was understood by Smith and Ricardo as a means of production. Other economists argued that capital is “a sum of money” and “securities.” There is a view that capital is a person's knowledge, skills and energy used in the production of goods and services. Today, in a broad sense, capital is understood as everything that brings income to its owner. These can be means of production, leased land, cash deposits in a bank, and labor used in production.

Capital can be 1)real(or physical) and 2) monetary, or financial(money used to purchase physical capital).

!!! Factors of production include not all capital, but only real capital - buildings, structures, machines, machinery and equipment, tools, etc. - that is, everything that is used to produce and transport goods and services.Financial capital (stocks, bonds, bank deposits and money) is not considered a factor of production., since it is not associated with real production, but acts as a tool for obtaining real capital.

Investments(from lat. investre – to clothe) – 1) long-term investments of material and monetary resources in production.

The continuously occurring circular movement of capital forms its turnover. At the production stage, different parts of productive capital turn over in different ways (over different periods). Therefore, capital is divided into fixed and working capital.

Main capital (machines, equipment, buildings): 1) used for a number of years, 2) transfers its cost to the product in parts, 3) costs are returned gradually.

Working capital (raw materials, materials, semi-finished products, wages of workers): 1) consumed in one production cycle, included in the entire newly created product, 3) costs are reimbursed after the sale of the product.

2.6 . Entrepreneurial abilities are the most important productive resource. They are possessed by a very small part of people who perform a number of functions, without which organization and successful production activities are impossible.

Entrepreneurial functions : 1) the ability to correctly combine factors of production - labor, land, capital - and organize production; 2) the ability to make decisions and take responsibility; 3) ability to take risks; 4) be receptive to innovations.

2.7 . Factor income : 1) labor?> wage; 2) earth?> rent(income of someone who owns land); 3) capital?> percent(payment for using other people's money); 4) entrepreneurial skills?> profit.

Rent(from lat. reddita - returned) - income regularly received by the owner from the use of land, property, capital, which does not require the recipient of the income to carry out entrepreneurial activities, or the cost of additional efforts.

Loan capital– temporarily available funds provided as a loan on the terms of repayment and payment.

Percent(from Latin pro centrum – for a hundred) – 1)credit interest (loan interest -mouth.) – the fee that the borrower must pay for using a loan, money or material assets; 2)deposit interest – payment to a bank depositor for providing the bank with money on a deposit for a certain period.

2.8 . Karl Marx on the factors of production .

German economist and philosopher of the 19th century. Karl Marx identified personal and material factors of production, while the person himself, as the bearer of labor power, acts as a personal factor, and the material factor of production refers to the means of production, which in turn consist of means of labor and objects of labor.

Productive forces (= factors of production ) = 1) personal factor (person) + 2) material factor, means of production (means of labor + object of labor).

Means of laboris “... a thing or a complex of things that a person places between himself and the object of labor and which serves for him as a conductor of his influences on this object.” Means of labor, and above all instruments of labor, include machines, machine tools, tools with which man influences nature, as well as industrial buildings, land, canals, roads, etc. The use and creation of means of labor is a characteristic feature of human labor activity. In a broader sense, the means of labor include all the material conditions of labor, without which it cannot be carried out. The general labor condition is the land, the working conditions are also industrial buildings, roads, etc. The results of social knowledge of nature are embodied in the means of labor and the processes of their production use, in engineering and technology. The level of development of technology (and technology) serves as the main indicator of the degree to which society has mastered the forces of nature.

Subject of labor- a substance of nature that a person influences during the labor process in order to adapt it for personal or industrial consumption. An object of labor that has already undergone the influence of human labor, but intended for further processing, is called raw material. Some finished products may also enter the production process as an object of labor (for example, grapes in the wine industry, animal oil in the confectionery industry). “If we consider the entire process from the point of view of its result - the product, then both the means of labor and the object of labor both act as means of production, and the labor itself - as productive labor.”

The totality of production factors act as productive forces that are inextricably linked with production relations. Some characterize the material content of the process of social production, while others characterize its historically determined form. Evolving, each stage of development of the productive forces, characterized by the type of production relations, constitutes a unique mode of production.

Mode of production = productive forces + relations of production.

A number of economists also add the following to these three factors:

Entrepreneurial activity

Information

Technics and techology

Work- expedient human activity used in production.

Two types of work:

Mainly physical (all blue-collar professions)

Mainly mental (professions requiring higher education)

The following types of work are distinguished depending on the education received:

Unskilled (janitor, cleaner...), not requiring labor skills.

Low-skilled labor - primary labor skills or short-term training are required (nurse, nanny, security guard...).

Skilled labor - requires secondary specialized education (college, technical school, vocational school, courses).

Highly skilled work requires higher education (doctor, teacher, economist, engineer...).

Labor is characterized by: working conditions, level of material remuneration and duration.

The level of material remuneration and working conditions are influenced by such factors as:

The phase of the economic cycle in which the country's economy is located (recession, depression, recovery or economic boom).

Specifics of the labor legislation of a given country.

Average productivity level in the country.

Capital- means of production created by human labor.

Types of capital:

1. Fixed capital- participates in the production process for a long time and gradually, piece by piece, transfers its cost to the finished product.

Example: buildings, structures (bridges, tunnels...), machinery, equipment, in agriculture - fattening cattle, green spaces.

Fixed capital can be in two forms: in physical terms (the number of machines) and in monetary terms (the cost of these machines).

Fixed assets are characterized by physical obsolescence:

Physical deterioration- loss of capital properties over time. The longer and more intensively capital is used, the higher its physical wear and tear.

Obsolescence- the process of depreciation of fixed capital due to the emergence of cheaper or more productive equipment.

2. Working capital- capital that circulates during the production process, participates in one production cycle and completely transfers its value to the finished product.

Example: money in the account and at the cash register, raw materials and materials, finished products in the warehouse, goods shipped by the buyer but not paid for.

Natural resources - resources created by nature itself and used in production .

Example: land (pastures, meadows), water, air, forests, minerals.

Markets for factors of production are markets for labor, capital, land, minerals, information, knowledge, intellectual abilities, and entrepreneurial talent. The use of primary resources - labor, capital and land - plays an important role. Markets for production factors have their own characteristics that must be taken into account. All factors of production used in economic activity can be divided into two groups:

1) material, which includes capital and land;

2) social, which includes labor and entrepreneurial talent.

In the modern economy, factor markets perform a variety of functions, thanks to which the resource supply of all economic entities is ensured, the problems of rational use of limited resources are solved, economic ties are formed, and the problem of what, how and for whom to produce is solved.

Most simply, the demand for factors of production - resources - is determined under the assumption that a company acquires some resource in a competitive market and sells its products also in a competitive market.

Demand for resources as derived demand. The demand for resources is derived from the demand for finished goods and services that are produced using these resources. They satisfy consumer needs indirectly, through the production of goods and services.

Marginal money product (MRP). The derived nature of demand for resources means that it will depend on:

1) resource productivity when creating a product;

2) the market value, or price, of the goods produced using this resource.

12. Labor as a factor of production. The price of labor.

The labor market is a special area of ​​market relations where transactions for the purchase and sale of labor are carried out. It did not always exist and historically appeared on a mass scale only under the conditions of classical capitalism. Then, on the one hand, the main means of production were concentrated in the private property of businessmen, and on the other, the overwhelming majority of workers were alienated from them. All hired workers became legally free persons, and the main, and even the only, source of their existence was the sale of their labor.

Work- this is the purposeful activity of man, with the help of which he transforms nature and adapts it to meet his needs.1

There are many theories of wages.

According to K. Marx, wages under capitalism are a transformed form of the value of the commodity “labor power,” which is determined by the cost of the means of subsistence necessary for the normal reproduction of labor power (labor power is understood as a person’s ability to work). Thus, wages are the cost of the worker's livelihood.

Unlike capitalism, wages under socialism were interpreted as part of the country’s national income, distributed among workers in the public sector of the economy in proportion to the quantity and quality of labor invested, i.e. wages are remuneration for work.

Modern economists in a narrow sense define wages as the price of labor, the income received by an employee for the provision of labor services per unit of time (hour, day, month). In a broad sense, it includes, in addition to wages, income in the form of fees, bonuses and other types of remuneration for work.

There are nominal and real wages.

Under nominal wage refers to the amount of money that a hired worker receives for his daily, weekly, monthly work. By the size of the nominal wage one can judge the level of earnings and income, but not the level of consumption and well-being of a person. To do this you need to know what the real wage is.

Real wage- this is the mass of vital goods and services that can be purchased for the money received. It is directly dependent on the nominal salary and inversely dependent on the price level for consumer goods and paid services.

The amount of remuneration is significantly influenced by market factors:

1) supply and demand in the labor market;

2) form of competition.

The subjects of demand in the labor market are business and the state, and the subjects of supply are households.

The amount of remuneration for labor can change in a competitive market in accordance with the laws of supply and demand.

The demand for labor is inversely related to wages. When wages rise, other things being equal, the entrepreneur, in order to maintain equilibrium, must correspondingly reduce the demand for labor, and when wages fall, the demand for labor increases.

Let's consider the process of establishing equilibrium in a competitive labor market using a graphical model (Fig. 7.1). Here on the abscissa is the amount of labor (Q), and on the ordinate – the wage rate (W).

The functional relationship between wages and the size of labor demand is expressed in the labor demand curve (D). Each point on the labor demand curve shows what demand will be at a certain wage level. The configuration of the curve and its negative slope show that the lower the wage, the greater the demand for labor, and vice versa.

The situation is different with the labor supply function. It also depends on the amount of wages, but this relationship is direct: the higher the wage, the greater the supply of labor, and vice versa. Therefore the labor supply curve (S) has a positive slope.

Rice. Equilibrium in the labor market

According to the American economist Paul Samuelson, the total supply of labor in a society is determined by at least four indicators: 1) the total population; 2) the share of the amateur population in the total number of residents; 3) the average number of hours worked by workers during the week and throughout the year; 4) the quality, quantity and qualifications of the labor that workers will expend.

Now let's connect these two graphs - the demand curve (D) and supply curve (S), which intersect at the point (e). This point on the graph corresponds to a certain equilibrium wage level (We) and the labor supply specified by this level (Qе).

At the point of balance (e) demand for labor equals supply. This means that all entrepreneurs who are willing to pay the equilibrium wage find the required amount of labor on the market, and workers who are ready to offer their services for this wage are fully employed. This state of the labor market corresponds to the situation of full employment.

Under any other wage conditions other than We, the equilibrium in the market is disrupted and two situations arise:

a) if the salary (W 1) above the equilibrium value, then there is an excess supply of labor, which leads to unemployment;

b) if the salary (W 2) below the equilibrium level, then the demand for workers exceeds supply and unfilled jobs remain.

Both of these situations cannot be sustainable in a perfectly competitive market; they are subject to correction by market mechanisms in the direction of restoring the situation of full employment.

The most typical situation in the labor market is imperfect competition. It is formed under the influence of the activities of trade unions, which are on the labor supply side and influence wage rates, and entrepreneurs, who influence wage rates through the demand for labor. Trade unions, on the one hand, and entrepreneurs, on the other, create a double monopoly in the market. Some act as monopolistic sellers, while others act as monopolistic buyers. Both of these monopoly forces (seller and buyer) set the price. The form of coordination between the demand for labor and the supply of labor in a market economy is the labor contract (agreement) between the employer of labor and the employee himself. It can be either individual or collective in nature. Labor contracts:

1) serve as the main form of establishing the price of labor (wages) in the labor market. This is their regulatory function at the microeconomic level;

2) perform a protective function, as they protect the socio-economic interests of employees;

3) collective agreements are an integral part of the national system for regulating labor relations. This is their regulatory function at the macroeconomic level.

The state influences the level of wages by:

Establishing minimum wage rates;

Legal protection of workers and provision of certain guarantees to them;

Modifications of standard labor contracts and agreements in accordance with measures to combat inflation;

Limitations on the influence of trade unions.

In a market economy, enterprises use two main forms of wages.

Time wages sets the amount of remuneration depending on the time worked. In this case, the amount of payment for 1 hour, day, week, month is calculated and multiplied by the time worked. In many countries, when establishing time wages, a unit of measurement for the price of labor is determined - the hourly wage rate, which can be calculated by dividing the established wage (for a certain period of time) by the standardized number of hours of labor.

Time wages are usually used in enterprises where a strictly regulated technological regime prevails; they are used to pay businessmen.

For managers, engineering and technical workers and employees, scientific workers, time-based wages are established in the form official salaries - the size of the monthly salary, which corresponds to the official salary scheme and provides for its maximum and minimum limits (“fork”).

Piece wages calculated depending on the volume of products produced. With piece wages, earnings increase in direct proportion to the number of products manufactured. This dependence is established using piece pricing. Prices are calculated based on the hourly (or daily) price of labor and the standardized quantity of products that a person working with average intensity and average skill produces in an hour or day.

With piecework wages, a measure of the worker’s labor intensity is established. This is done using production standards(a set volume of products to be produced by a worker in a certain time) or time standards(the reciprocal of the production rate is the time spent on producing a unit or batch of products). Such production standards are subject to payment in accordance with the established procedure. Self-interest motivates a person to work harder in order to produce more products and increase his income.

Piece wages are widely used in enterprises where the share of manual labor is high and it is necessary to encourage an increase in the number of products produced. In modern conditions, piecework wages are increasingly taking into account factors such as product quality, equipment utilization rates, and savings in raw materials, which brings piecework wages closer to time-based wages.

Currently, the material remuneration of employees is made dependent on the degree of achievement of commercial results of the enterprise. Bonus systems are widespread, providing special rewards for high product quality, saving on materials and improving other final production results. In various options, time-bonus, piece-bonus, piece-progressive, multifactor and other types of wages are used.

13. Capital as a factor of production is a material good for production purposes, that is, a means of production.

According to the characteristics of their participation in the production process and interaction with labor as a factor of production, the means of production are divided into objects of labor and means of labor.

Objects of labor include everything from which material goods or things are made: raw materials, auxiliary materials, semi-finished products. In other words, this is the material of nature involved in the production process, towards which human labor is directed.

The means of labor include everything that influences the objects of labor, and the means by which this influence is carried out. Thus, active and passive parts are distinguished in the means of labor.

The active part of the means of labor includes tools of labor - that which directly affects the object of labor: machines, machines, equipment, tools. It is the tools of labor that workers are armed with while carrying out the labor process. These tools largely determine the content of their work. The tools used distinguish one historical era from another. Thus, the Stone Age stands out, when tools were made of stone, the Bronze and Iron Ages, in which there were tools made of bronze and iron. Tools are sometimes called the musculoskeletal system of production, which determines its power.

History shows that thanks to the development of labor tools, labor was replaced by capital and overall labor productivity increased, when manual labor, based on the use of simple tools, began to be replaced by mechanized labor, based on the use of machines as the main tools of labor. Since the middle of the twentieth century, machines began to be supplemented and even replaced by automatic machines, capable of replacing part of mental labor.

The passive part of the means of labor includes industrial buildings, structures, auxiliary devices, pipes, tanks, roads, and communication channels. All this is often called the vascular system of production, that is, the system for ensuring the functioning of the active part of the means of labor.

Until the means of production are involved in the production process, they appear in the form of two types of resources: capital and material.

Capital resources include what becomes a means of labor in the production process and is characterized by a long service life. As a rule, they require a long time to create.

Material resources include what becomes the subject of labor and what was part of natural resources before being involved in the sphere of production.

The different intended purposes of means of production allow them to be divided into two types: means of production necessary for the production of new means of production, and means of production necessary for the production of consumer goods. The former are used in the industries of the first division of social production, the latter - in the second division.

Due to limited resource capabilities, society has to go for qualitative improvement of the means of production, primarily tools of labor, which are an important factor in the growth of labor productivity. Thus, capital appears as a materialized embodiment of scientific and technological progress. It is in it, primarily in the tools of labor, that all the achievements of science and technology are most visibly manifested.

Capital market structure:

· Credit market.

· Stock market.

· Public investment.

· Bonds.

In the capital market, the owners of money sell it to firms, citizens or the government and sell it to the buyer who can offer the highest price - the highest interest rate. There is supply and demand in this market. The demand for capital is determined by the need of firms to modernize equipment. The supply of capital depends on the degree of investment risk and the period of withdrawal of funds. The greater the risk of loss of capital and the longer the investment period, the less money the investor is willing to offer and the higher the interest rate for using capital. There are no absolutely win-win projects. There are two feelings fighting in the soul of any investor – the fear of losing capital and the desire to get as much income as possible from savings. "The investor is greedy, but cowardly." Depending on the degree of risk and investment time frame, banks offer a variety of interest rates. Intermediaries between investors and recipients of investments are banks, investment funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, and pension funds.

Securities:

Bonds– This is a security that certifies that its owner has lent a certain amount of money to a company or state and has the right to receive it back along with a certain premium.. For a company, issuing bonds is a more profitable step than asking for a loan from a bank, because in the first case, the company itself dictates the terms, but these bonds still need to be able to sell. A share is a security sold to an investor for money used for the development of the company, and giving him the rights to co-own the company's property and to receive future profits of the company (dividends).). Ordinary shares give the right to participate in the management of the enterprise and receive a part of the net profit. Preference shares give the right to receive fixed dividends regardless of the amount of profit, but do not give the right to participate in the management of the company. Shares can be sold and their value depends not on the value of the company's property, but on the expected value of its future profits and on speculative play.

An example of fraud and speculative play is the scam of John Law, nicknamed Handsome Law. He was a libertine and a card player. For murder in a duel, he was sentenced to death in Scotland, but with the help of friends he managed to escape from prison by jumping from a height of 9 meters. In France, he established the Company of the Indies, ostensibly to develop the Mississippi River valley and build New Orleans. Law managed to provoke a rush of demand for shares of this company. The nominal value of the share was 500 livres, but its market value increased from 250 livres to 20,000 livres; in one transaction he managed to sell 100 shares for 1,500 kg of silver. He drove France crazy. People stood in lines day and night for shares, tried to get into his office through the chimney, one duchess publicly kissed his hands. Law had a patron - the regent of France, William of Orange. Law became a director of the Royal Bank, used the money he received to purchase government securities and became its largest creditor. The Royal Bank provided loans for the purchase of shares in the Indies Company, which in reality made almost no profit. By law, the Royal Bank issued banknotes that could be exchanged for precious metals on demand. Law ordered the printing of additional notes not backed by the Royal Bank's stock of precious metals. As a result, this financial “pyramid” burst like a soap bubble. Alas, all speculation is fleeting. In 1720, state banknotes sharply depreciated by ¾ of their nominal value, prices began to rise, there was a shortage of food in Paris, the regent was forced to deprive banknotes of the status of legal tender, they turned into simple pieces of paper. Law was nearly killed by an angry mob demanding that the notes be exchanged for "real money." He escaped to the regent's court and then fled to Brussels with his son. In France, he left his wife, daughter, brother and all his property, which was immediately confiscated to pay off his debts. In order to protect society from such fraud and instill confidence in shares, strict rules were issued for the organization of trading in securities. These laws limit the scope for such fraud. Scammers face severe punishment in the form of a long prison term. This is done because of the enormous value of the existence of the stock market for the development of the economy. The stock market is called the stock market. If the stock market becomes too dangerous due to unlimited fraud, then this market will simply die and the industry will not receive capital for reconstruction. And only citizens of the country have the necessary amounts. This is especially important for the Russian economy. The domestic stock market is just being formed; shares of only some Russian companies are sold and bought. It is almost impossible to sell shares of new enterprises, because... their shares do not inspire confidence. Buyers are unsure liquidity these shares, i.e. is that they will be able to sell them at any time. Buyers start buying them only when the company achieves success in the market.

14. Land is one of the factors of production. It is the third main factor of production after labor and capital.

land as a factor of production is considered in two senses.

• In the first, in a narrow sense Under ground we mean the land plots themselves. In this case, primary importance is given to the location of the site, its area and the quality of the land;

  V wide In the understanding of this word, land means all the natural resources used in the production process, located in the bowels of the earth and on its surface. Thus, in the mining industry or in the sea and river space, during the construction of hydroelectric power stations or storage facilities for various material assets, land is valuable not so much for its area as such, but for the resources that are associated with it.

Earth- an invaluable gift of nature, not only because it contains all the resources that all humanity uses, but it is also the habitat of all living things, including man himself. The natural foundation of natural resources is planetary environmental conditions. These include the geographical location and terrain, the structure of the subsoil, climate, planetary heat and solar radiation, water and sea areas. All these and other natural resources and conditions create the possibility of appropriate human activity as they develop these natural conditions. Natural resources themselves represent a set of natural conditions that can be used in the process of creating material and spiritual benefits.

Natural resources are divided into:

• real;

  potential;

  renewable;

  non-renewable.

Real natural resources those resources (gas, oil, ore) that have already been explored and used in production are considered. To potential resources include those predicted but not currently used. Real natural resources directly affect the amount of national wealth, the standard of living of the population, and the efficiency of the economy of the entire country. Natural resources can be classified on another basis, based on their renewability and non-renewability. Renewable natural resources- these are resources that, as they are spent, are reproduced under the influence of natural processes or conscious human efforts. As an example, we can point to the water cycle in nature, maintaining the natural environment, flora and fauna in the same form. Using the energy of water in rivers today, we are confident that tomorrow this energy resource will be renewed and used again. The fertility of the soil, which is depleted during its intensive use in production or agricultural activities, can also be restored by introducing appropriate fertilizers into the soil, and so on in all such cases. TO non-renewable natural resources These include resources that cannot be restored once they are completely exhausted. This, first of all, should include all minerals. Once used reserves of iron ore, oil, gas, etc. will never be renewed, since gas, oil, and other minerals were formed over millions and millions of years under certain geological conditions in the past. In addition, each particle of non-renewable resources used in production reduces the residual value of the corresponding reserves. However, many of the non-renewable resources can be replaced. Fungible natural resources- These are resources that can be replaced by others. Moreover, such substitutes may even be more economically profitable. Resources, renewable and non-renewable, entering the market are characterized by a specific pricing system.

Non-renewable resources always have high social significance and value. The owners of these resources, by regulating the volume of their supply to the market, have a noticeable impact on the general economic situation in the country. The specificity of this type of natural resources is that, unlike the use of all other resources used for the production of goods in order to obtain a certain benefit, for the owner of these resources both the use and non-use of these resources for a certain time can be equally beneficial. It may even be that not using them will provide greater benefits, given the possibility of rising prices for the resources in question in the future. Conservation of resources leaves the seller the chance to sell non-renewable resources in the future with greater economic benefits, since due to the depletion of deposits, the cost of a unit of resource will increase. The role of non-renewable resources in the modern economy is of particular importance and will increase every year.

The concept and essence of rent

Each factor of production - labor, capital, entrepreneurship - corresponds to a certain type of income - salary, interest, profit. Income from land is traditionally called rent. The word "rent" comes from the Late Latin "rendita" and the Latin "reddita", literally - "given back, returned." In different languages, this word has different meanings: in German the word “Rente” denotes a pension, in English (rent) - rent or rent, in French (rente) - the annual income received by the owner on government bonds. The approach to rent has historically developed in two directions: rent as the income of the land owner and rent as payment for the use of land, i.e. rent. Rent has attracted the attention of economists since ancient times. Economists define the essence of rent in different ways. Some consider rent as one of the types of property income, payment to owners for the use of a natural resource. Others view rent as regular income from capital or land received by its owners without entrepreneurial activity. Rent is also defined as a special type of relatively stable income that is not directly related to entrepreneurial activity. But it should be borne in mind that the term “rent” has two meanings: legal and economic. In jurisprudence, rent is an independent legal relationship concerning the direct relationship between the subjects of the rent agreement and is in no way connected with the lease of property. The economic relationship between the recipient of the rent and its payer is directly related to the use of credit funds or the rental of property. In modern economic theory, there is the concept of economic rent as a component of income from any other factor. Economic rent is the difference between the payment for a resource and the minimum payment required for that resource to be supplied. A resource that produces economic rent brings in an amount greater than the opportunity cost of its use. Differential rent

Differential rent is the most common form of land rent. The basis of differential land rent is the difference in production costs on different land plots.

Depending on the circumstances due to which this difference arose, differential rent is divided into various types. Differences in production costs may be primarily due to the different fertility of different plots of land. The more fertile the soil (regardless of whether this fertility is a gift of nature or the fruit of human efforts), the more productive the labor spent on it, the lower the production costs. The productivity of land plots is determined by their location, climatic features, area of ​​use, etc. This is the objective basis for the formation of differential rent.

Absolute rent.

Absolute rent is the result of the monopoly of private ownership of land. The owner of the land, knowing that everyone needs the land for agricultural or industrial production, will force those who want to use the land to pay a stable rent for it. The formation of absolute rent is associated with the fact that in agriculture the share of variable capital (going to wages) is proportionally higher than in industry. It follows that the surplus value created in agriculture is higher than the average profit, and the cost of products is higher than the capitalist price of production. The proportional distribution of surplus value created in agriculture is hampered by land ownership, which, representing a monopoly, itself constantly claims a part of this surplus value and appropriates the difference between the value and the price of production. Landed property thus inflates the price of agricultural produce by the amount which it collects as absolute rent, and which therefore represents a kind of tax imposed on society.

The explanation for the emergence of absolute rent, according to K. Marx, follows from the fact of the lower organic composition of capital in agriculture compared to industry. Agriculture involves the labor of the worker rather than the means of production. It is the surplus labor of hired agricultural workers that is the source of the formation of absolute rent. This type of rent is obtained from absolutely all lands: from the best and average plots, and, without a doubt, from the worst plots of land. However, I would like to note that under the influence of technological progress there is a gradual convergence of the organic composition of capital in industry and agriculture. Indeed, in intensive agriculture in developed countries, performing the same amount of work as in industry requires a larger mass of means of production and higher technological equipment of labor. So, absolute rent is one of the types of land rent received by landowners, regardless of the fertility and location of the land, solely as compensation realized in the assignment of property rights to land. If capital has been invested in a plot of land, the amount of rent increases by the amount of the loan interest.

Monopoly rent

All economic schools highlight the category of monopoly rent. It is based on the monopoly price at which a product of rare quality is sold. A property, such as the quality of durum wheat, which makes it possible to obtain high-grade flour with special baking qualities or special grape varieties for the production of world-famous wines, creates a monopoly position for these agricultural products in the market and allows them to be sold at monopoly high prices. The monopoly high price of rare agricultural products does not depend on their social price of production. It is determined by the buyer's ability to pay a high price for such a product. Monopoly rent, therefore, is an excess not only over the social price of production, but also over the price of all agricultural products.

Due to the limited availability of land on which particularly favorable conditions arise for the production of rare goods, and the presence of great demand for these goods, it becomes possible to sell them on the market at prices exceeding their value for a more or less long time. In all these cases, those who rent land from the owners of such land plots are forced to pay them high rents, the basis of which is monopoly rent. It acts as an additional income for the land owner. Thus, the source of monopoly rent is part of the surplus value created by hired labor and appropriated by the owner of the land as a result of its redistribution.

A type of monopoly rent is scarcity rent, against which competition is powerless. It constitutes a significant part of the income of a star and top model, an outstanding musician, etc. From a theoretical point of view, paying rent is not a necessary condition for the optimal allocation of resources. On the one hand, a musician or a top model would still not leave their business even with low remuneration. On the other hand, ultra-high income is still not able to stimulate an increase in the production of goods and services with the same unique properties, since their supply is absolutely limited.

Construction rent

Land intended for construction purposes is regulated by this type of land rent. Construction rent is characterized, firstly, by the predominant influence of location (it is very important, for example, for construction sites in large cities); secondly, the obvious and complete passivity of the owner, whose activity consists (especially in relation to the mines) simply in the exploitation of social progress, to which the owner contributes nothing and in which he risks nothing; and, finally, the predominance of monopoly prices in many cases. Construction rent is necessarily increased not only by the growth of population and the growing need for housing with it, but also by the growth of fixed capital, which is either attached to the land or placed on it, like all industrial buildings, railways, warehouses, docks and other economic structures. Two points should be taken into account: on the one hand, the exploitation of the land occurs for the purposes of production or extractive industry, on the other, the land is a space that is necessary as a condition for all production and all human activity. In both cases, landed property requires its tribute. The demand for building sites increases the value of land as space and base, while at the same time it increases the demand for elements of the earth that serve as building materials.

Forest rent

Land rent in forest management can rightfully be called forest rent. Rent is the residual value. It is determined by the difference between the commodity value of the resource, calculated in domestic market prices for the primary products obtained from it, and the costs of procuring and transporting these products, including business profit. Therefore, the richer the country, the more developed its transport network, the shorter the transportation distances, the more efficient the harvesting and processing of wood, the higher the rent. Forest rent strongly depends on the technological balance and efficiency of forestry industries that process wood raw materials of different consumer value. It is the efficiency of processing that generates high rents, and not vice versa. The exploitation of forest resources provides the highest possible rental income. At the same time, the yield of quality assortments during logging should not be less than 50%. This is the main condition for normal profitability of logging and high forest rent. Forest rent belongs to the forest owner. If the owner is the state, then the rent is fully or partially withdrawn into the general treasury (budget) with the help of a forest tax, which in Russia has long been called a penal fee, and is now renamed a forest tax. Any payments for forest use are a rent tax. The rent tax may be less than, equal to, or greater than the rent. The rent tax is set less than the rent or is not collected at all in the following cases: when the tenant is charged with the costs of restoration and reproduction of forest resources; or, in addition to the reproduction of forest resources, the tenant is entrusted to invest rental income as a public resource in the development of forestry production. Rent tax is set equal to rent if: reproduction of forest resources is carried out by state forest management bodies at the expense of budgetary funds; or part of the forest rent exceeding the costs of forestry management is used for social and other national purposes. Forest tax exceeds rent when it is established without justification and calculations. An excess of forest tax over rent can only have negative consequences: a decrease in the profitability of logging and workers' wages.

15. Gross National Product (GNP) - as opposed to GDP , reflects the total value of final goods and services created not only within the country, but also abroad. GNP is calculated in the same way as GDP, but differs from it by an amount equal to the balance of payments with foreign countries. If we add to the GDP indicator the difference between receipts from primary income from abroad and primary income received by foreign investors in a given country, this is the size of GNP.

Methods for calculating GNP

GNP = GDP + Balance of primary income received from abroad or transferred abroad (such first income usually includes wages, income from property in the form of dividends)

There are 3 measurement methods:

1. By cost (end-use method).

2. By value added (production method).

3. By income (distribution method).

When calculating GNP by expenses, the expenses of all economic agents using GNP (households, firms, government and foreigners) are summed up. In fact, we are talking about the aggregate demand for produced GNP.

Total expenses can be broken down into several components:

GNP = Y = C + I + G + NX,

where C is personal consumer expenditures, which include household expenditures on durable goods and current consumption, on services (except for expenditures on the purchase of housing).

I – gross private domestic investment. Includes industrial capital investments (investments in fixed production assets), investments in housing construction and investments in inventories (materials and materials).

Investment is understood as an addition to the physical stock of capital. The purchase of financial securities (stocks, bonds) is not an investment. The term “domestic investment” means that it is investment made by residents of a given country (including spending on imported goods). The term private investment means that it does not include public investment. The term "gross" means that depreciation is not deducted from the investment:

Gross Investment = Net Investment + Depreciation.

An increase in inventories is taken into account with a “+” sign, and a decrease with a minus sign.

G – government purchases of goods and services (construction and maintenance of schools, roads, army, national defense expenditures, salaries of civil servants, etc.). This does not include transfer payments. Government transfers are payments not related to the movement of goods and services. They redistribute state income through benefits, pensions, and social insurance payments.

NX is a pure export. It is equal to the difference between the value volumes of exports and imports. If a country exports more than it imports, then it acts as a “net exporter” on the world market, and GNP exceeds domestic spending. If it imports more, then it is a “net importer”; the value of net exports is negative. The amount of expenses exceeds the volume of production.

This GNP equation is called the basic macroeconomic identity or national accounts identity.

When calculating GNP using the production method, the value added at each stage of production of the final product is summed up.

Value added (VA) is the difference between the cost of products produced by the firm and the cost of intermediate products purchased by the firm.

The value of GNP in this case is the sum of the added value of all producing firms. This method allows us to take into account the contribution of various firms and industries to the creation of GNP.

GNP = Σ Value added + Indirect taxes – Government subsidies.

For the economy as a whole, the sum of the entire VA must be equal to the cost of final goods and services.

When calculating GNP by income, all types of factor income (salaries, rent, %) are summed up, as well as 2 components that are not income: depreciation charges and net indirect taxes on business (taxes minus subsidies).

There is a relationship between GNP and GDP indicators:

GNP = GDP + net factor income from abroad.

Net factor income from abroad is the difference between the income received by citizens of a given country abroad and the income of foreigners received in the territory of a given country.

If GNP exceeds GDP, it means that residents of a given country earn more abroad than foreigners earn in that country.

According to the method of receiving income, the following types of factor income are distinguished as part of GNP:

§ compensation for labor of employees (salary, bonuses);

§ income of owners;

§ rental income;

§ corporate profits (remaining after wages and interest on loans; it includes shareholder dividends, retained earnings and income tax);

§ net% (the difference between interest payments by firms to other sectors of the economy and interest payments received by firms from other sectors - households and the state).

Of the three methods, the production method and the end-use method are the most commonly used.

Gross domestic product is the market value of all final goods and services (that is, intended for direct consumption) produced during the year in all sectors of the economy on the territory of the state for consumption, export and accumulation, regardless of the nationality of the factors of production used . This concept was first proposed in 1934 by Simon Kuznets.

Nominal- expressed in current prices of a given year.

real(adjusted for inflation) - expressed in prices of the previous or any other base year. Real GDP takes into account the extent to which GDP growth is driven by real output growth rather than price increases.

the ratio of nominal GDP to real GDP is called GDP deflator.

actual GDP is GDP at underemployment - it is GDP that reflects the realized capabilities of the economy.

Potential GDP is GDP at full employment. This is GDP, which will reflect the potential capabilities of the economy. The potential capabilities of the economy can be much higher than the real ones.

A country's GDP can be expressed in both national currency , and, if necessary, recalculated for reference at exchange rates in foreign currency, and can be presented at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) (for more accurate international comparisons). Today, the so-called “market value” cannot be considered a definite or stable value, therefore GDP and other similar concepts and categories are simply a kind of generally accepted abstraction.

National income is the most important macroeconomic indicator of the total income of the entire population of a given country for a certain period of time (usually a year); newly created value. National income is determined by the formula:

ND=NNP - net indirect business taxes

The main components of ND are:

Income of employees and unincorporated owners;

Profit of companies;

Rental income;

Interest income;

Savings are income not spent on the purchase of goods and services as part of current consumption. They are carried out by both households and firms. The amount of savings is inversely proportional to the amount of consumption. Sources of savings are growth in production (and income) or a reduction in the share of consumption in income. The process of saving is called “saving”.

16.The AD-AS model (model of aggregate demand and aggregate supply) is a macroeconomic model that considers macroeconomic equilibrium in conditions of changing prices in the short and long term.

It was first put forward by J. Keynes

This model shows the behavior of aggregate demand and aggregate supply, and describes their impact on the general price level and aggregate output (or real GDP, sometimes GNP) in the economy. The AD-AS model can be used to demonstrate many macroeconomic events, such as stagflation - a state of the economy in which there is a simultaneous decline in production, rising prices and unemployment, a combination of economic crisis and inflation.

possible price level. The aggregate demand curve indicates an inverse, or negative, relationship between the price level and the real volume of national production (Fig.).

The nature of the aggregate demand (AD) curve is determined by three factors: the interest rate effect; the wealth effect, or real cash balances; the effect of import purchases.

The aggregate supply reflects the size of the national product being created and the change in prices generated by these scales of reproduction.

The shape of the aggregate supply curve (AS) records the change in the level of unit costs in the production of a particular value of GNP, depends on the priorities and “crisis points” of economic growth, on the level of production, below which the rapid collapse of the economic system occurs.

Model is-lm

The IS-LM model allows you to visualize the relationship between such macroeconomic variables as the interest rate, money supply, price level , demand for cash, demand for goods, production level of the economy. Changes in one or more of these quantities lead to a shift in the point of intersection of the LM and IS curves, which in turn determines the level of production (and income) of the economy, as well as the corresponding level of interest rates.

The Keynesian cross is one of the most famous ways to model aggregate demand. Using this model, you can determine parameters such as the equilibrium output volume, the general price level in the economy, just as in the AD-AS model . Since the intersection of total cost curves shows full employment of resources in economics, the “Keynesian cross” can also be used to analyze the phases of economic cycles. If real costs exceed planned ones (that is, the level of output is greater than the level of full employment of resources), this means that firms were unable to sell as much as planned, which entails a decrease in output, an increase in the level of cyclical unemployment, and therefore the country experiences a recession . If real costs are less than planned, when the level of output is below the full employment level, then firms, on the contrary, have less output than the market requires, which is why they increase their output, and thus an upturn in the economy can be observed.

17. Functions and role of money in a market economy

Money performs five functions: measures of value; means of circulation; means of creating treasures, accumulations and savings; means of payment; world money.

The function of money as a measure of value. Money as a universal equivalent measures the value of all goods. But it is not money that makes goods comparable, but the amount of socially necessary labor spent on their production. In metal circulation, this function was performed by real money (gold and silver), which themselves had value, but they also expressed the value of goods ideally, that is, in the form of mentally represented money.

The form of manifestation of the value of a product is its price. However, the value of a commodity turns exchange relations into the possibility of quantitative assessments using money. At the stage of formation of commodity relations, money played the role of a means that equated other goods to money; it made them commensurable not just as products of human labor, but as parts of the same monetary material - gold and silver. As a result, goods began to be correlated with each other in a constant proportion, i.e. a price scale arose as a certain weight of gold or silver, accepted by the state as a monetary unit. For example, in the USA, the Gold Standard Act for the dollar in 1900 1.50463 g of pure gold was accepted, but with further devaluations of the dollar, the gold content in it decreased three times: in 1934. - up to 0.889g, in December 1971 to 0.818g and in February 1973. - up to 0.737g.

The Jamaican currency system, introduced in 1976-1978, abolished the official price of gold, as well as gold parities, and therefore the official price scale lost its significance. Currently, it is replaced by the actual scale of prices, which develops spontaneously in the process of market exchange.

When fiat credit money circulates, the mechanism of action of the measure of value function changes. Since “credit money is a form of manifestation of money capital and it serves not the circulation of goods, but of capital, then its function as a measure of value is carried out not only in the sphere of exchange, but also in the sphere of production” 1 . This means that in a developed market economy, the price is formed not only in the market, but also in the sphere of production, and its final adjustment takes place in the market. The price of goods in such conditions depends on two factors: the value of the banknote, which is determined by the value of the goods it represents, and the number of banknotes in circulation; the relationship between supply and demand for a given product on the market.

When fiat credit money circulates, the price is confirmed directly in goods, and not in gold. Therefore, price is a form of manifestation of the exchange relationship of a given product to all goods, and not specifically to one yellow metal.

The function of money as a medium of circulation.

Commodity circulation includes two metamorphoses, that is, two changes in the forms of value: the sale of one commodity and the purchase of another. In this process, money plays the role of an intermediary in the exchange of two goods: C - M - T.

The difference between commodity circulation and the direct exchange of goods for goods is that it is served by money as a means of circulation, due to which the individual, time and spatial boundaries characteristic of direct commodity exchange are overcome.

However, if goods leave circulation after they are sold, then money remains in this area, continuously servicing the exchange of goods. This circumstance does not lead to the elimination, but to the aggravation of exchange contradictions, since the emerging gap between the purchase and sale of goods in one link causes a similar gap in other links, which can lead to economic crises. The basis of economic crises are structural shifts in the production and sale of the social product.

The peculiarity of the function of money as a medium of exchange is that this function is performed, firstly, by real, or cash, money, and secondly, by signs of value - paper and credit money. Currently, when gold is demonetized, the function of the medium of exchange is performed by credit money. Moreover, they function both as a means of purchase and as a means of payment: if the metamorphosis C - M - T is not interrupted, then the circulation of goods occurs on the basis of money as a means of purchase. If there is a time gap between the purchase and sale of goods, then money acts as a means of payment.

The formula C - M - C corresponds to simple commodity production, when the circulation of goods is realized on the basis of money as a means of purchase. This conclusion follows not only from the fact of the quantitative prevalence of transactions where money is used as a means of purchase. The commodity “money” is essentially not equipped to independently perform the function of payment, since the latter presupposes coercion, guarantee and trust as a necessary condition.

A different situation arises under capitalist commodity production. The dominant formula here is M - T - D 1, where M, as a rule, is a means of circulation not of goods, but of capital.

But although the function of a means of payment is inherent in credit money, and the function of a purchasing instrument is inherent in money, or a monetary commodity, this does not mean that each form of money cannot perform these functions. The main difference between metallic and credit money lies not in the fact that they perform the function of a means of circulation differently, but in the fact that the former mediate the movement of goods, and the latter - the movement of capital.

The function of money as a means of creating treasures, accumulations and savings.

The function of accumulating treasures was previously performed by full-fledged and real money - gold and silver. Since money represents the universal embodiment of wealth, there is a desire to accumulate it. But for this it is necessary to interrupt two metamorphoses in the exchange of goods C - M - T. In this case, the sale of a product is followed by the purchase of another product, and money falls out of circulation and turns into a “golden doll,” that is, into a treasure.

In pre-capitalist formations, there was the simplest form of accumulation of wealth, when gold and silver removed from circulation were stored in chests, little jars, and buried in the ground. In conditions of metallic money circulation, the function of accumulating treasures played an important economic role - a spontaneous regulator of the law of monetary circulation.

With the growth of commodity production, the transformation of money into treasure becomes a necessary condition for the regular resumption of reproduction. The desire to obtain the greatest profit forces entrepreneurs not to store money as a dead treasure, but to put it into circulation.

In the conditions of metallic money circulation and the exchange of banknotes for gold, central banks of issue were required to have gold reserves in the form of reserves of internal monetary circulation, the exchange of banknotes for gold and a reserve of international payments. Currently, all these functions of the central bank's gold reserve have disappeared due to the withdrawal of gold from domestic monetary circulation, the cessation of the exchange of banknotes for gold and the abolition of gold parities, i.e., the exclusion of the precious metal from international circulation.

At the same time, gold continues to be stored in central banks and the US Treasury as a strategic reserve. Keeping gold reserves is also associated with the gold fetish. Back in the Middle Ages, mercantilists argued that the basis of economic policy was the accumulation of precious metals in the country. Until the middle of the 20th century. it was believed that the prestige of a nation was determined by the size of its gold reserves. So, in September 1949 The USA concentrated 75% of all gold reserves of the capitalist world (about 21.9 thousand tons).

The gold fetish continues to exist in the minds of individuals who consider gold as a reliable guarantee of savings. The active market for private hoarders includes at least a third of the population. In addition, gold reserves provide confidence in national currencies used in international payments.

Today, gold, along with credit money, is used by the state to create centralized gold and foreign exchange reserves of the country, concentrated in central banks.

The gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Federation, for example, are presented as follows (see Table 1)

Gold and foreign exchange reserves of Russia

(at the end of April 1997, million dollars)

Table 1

1 Bulletin of banking statistics of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation M., 1997 - No. 8/51 -P. 8.

The table shows that the Central Bank of Russia contains 13,722 million troy (31.1 g) gold, or an amount of 4116.6 million US dollars.

With the cessation of the exchange of banknotes for gold and its withdrawal from circulation, credit money becomes a means of accumulation and savings of the population. They, by their nature, like the monetary capital they represent, are not treasures. “If in one place money freezes as treasure, then credit immediately transforms it into active money capital in another circulation process” 1.

Consequently, the peculiarity of credit money as a means of accumulation is that it accumulates in the process of constant circulation. If they settle in chests, they turn from money into paper symbols. Performing this function, credit money also mediates the process of accumulation of temporarily free funds and savings and their transformation into capital. But the main thing is that credit money performs the function of accumulation, primarily for the implementation of expanded reproduction, when it is necessary to accumulate the necessary amount of money. The accumulation of money is also necessary during the movement of working capital, when a gap is formed in the sale of products and the purchase of raw materials, etc. Thus, credit money, performing the function of accumulation, helps smooth out disturbances in the circulation of capital.

The accumulation of short-term capital is facilitated by the expansion and concentration of banking and the economical use of the circulation reserve. The accumulation of long-term capital is carried out mainly through the issue of securities. Stocks and bonds are a reservoir into which the released funds flow, as it were, and from which they are withdrawn if necessary.

In the era of capitalism, this kind of accumulation is carried out in a number of countries at the level of state policy.

The function of money as a means of payment. This function arose as a result of the development of credit relations in the capitalist economy. In this case, the money is used for:

* sale of goods on credit, the need for which is associated with unequal conditions for the production and sale of goods, different durations of their production and circulation, and the seasonal nature of production;

* payment of wages to workers and employees. Consequently, money, performing the function of a means of payment, has its own specific form of movement, different from the form of movement of money as a means of circulation. This can be depicted as follows:

T - M - T - the function of money as a medium of circulation,

O--D is the function of money as a means of payment.

Thus, if during the functioning of money as a means of circulation there is a counter movement of money and goods, then when they are used as a means of payment there is a gap in this movement. When buying goods on credit, the debtor gives the seller a bill, i.e., a debt obligation that will be finally paid only after a certain period of time (3-6 months).

In a developed commodity economy, money as a means of payment unites many commodity producers. In this regard, the rupture of one link in the payment chain leads to the development of crisis phenomena and mass bankruptcy of goods owners. To mitigate these negative phenomena, a system of pre-notified payments is being introduced, based on the automatic crediting of wages, pensions and other cash payments to the client’s account, and the debiting of funds to pay utility costs, rent and various contributions.

As a result of the application of a pre-notified payment system, the use of cash is reduced. Thus, only 10% of workers in England receive wages in cash, in France - less than 10%, in Germany and Canada - about 5%, and in the USA - approximately 1%.

Accelerating payments, reducing distribution costs and increasing the profitability of enterprises is facilitated by the introduction of electronic money into payment circulation.

This system was introduced at a particularly rapid pace into the mechanism of payment relations in the United States, where in the 70s. Congress authorized the creation of the National Remittance Transfer System Commission. The Federal Reserve System, together with the Treasury, developed and implemented this system at the national level: the communication network for interbank transfers was modernized - instead of disparate channels, a single network operates, consisting of 14 interconnected communication processes and covering all US depository institutions The main elements of this system are automated clearing houses, an automated cashier system and a system of terminals installed at points of purchase.

Credit cards arose on the basis of electronic money. They help reduce cash payments, serving retail trade and the service sector, serve as a means of payment, replacing cash and checks, and at the same time as a credit instrument, allowing the owner to obtain a short-term loan in cash or in the form of deferred payment.

The procedure for using a credit card is as follows. The consumer receives from a special issuing company or bank a plastic card on which the assigned account number and a secret code to identify the owner are indicated. At the time of purchasing goods or providing services, the card is presented to an institution that is part of this payment system (retail outlets, hotels, gas stations, restaurants, etc.). The seller issues an invoice for goods sold (services provided) indicating the date of purchase, last name, card number, etc., the buyer signs the invoice. The invoice is then sent to the bank, which pays it immediately and then collects the debt from the buyer. Once a month, the buyer is sent a general invoice, which can be paid during a grace period (25-30 days). The buyer can also extend the payment, in which case he receives a loan for which he pays a high interest - 1.5% per month, or 18% per year.

Thus, the importance of credit cards lies in the fact that their use narrows the scope of use of cash and checks and is a powerful incentive in the sale of goods and in eliminating crisis phenomena in the economy.

Function of world money.

This function of money arose in pre-capitalist formations, but was fully developed with the creation of the world market. In this market, money was sold in “national uniforms”, that is, it appeared in the form of gold bars (995 standard). Paris Agreement of 1867 Gold was recognized as the only form of world money.

World money has a threefold purpose and serves as: a universal means of payment; universal means of purchasing; materialization of social wealth. Money acts as an international means of payment in settlements on international balances, mainly on payment balances. As an international means of purchase, money is used for the direct purchase of goods abroad and payment for them in cash (for example, in the event of a bad harvest, the purchase of grain, sugar, etc.). As the materialization of social wealth, money is a means of transferring national wealth from one country to another when collecting indemnities, reparations or providing loans.

During the period of the gold standard, the practice of final balancing of the balance of payments with the help of gold prevailed, although in international circulation mainly credit instruments of circulation were used.

In the 20th century the intensification of world relations has expanded the introduction of credit instruments of circulation into international circulation (bills, checks, etc.). In 1930 The International Conventions on Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes were signed in Geneva, and in 1931. --An international convention regulating the issue, circulation and payment of cheques.

The peculiarity of the use of bills and checks in international circulation was that they did not serve as a final means of payment, like gold. Therefore, the exclusion of the yellow metal from international circulation, when the spontaneous mechanism of “golden points” ceased to operate, led to strong fluctuations in exchange rates. Since there was no world banknote, the place of gold was taken through non-economic coercion by leading national banknotes, mainly the English pound sterling and the US dollar. For this purpose, international agreements, currency blocks and currency clearings were used.

The first international agreement was signed in Genoa in 1922, when the pound sterling and the US dollar were declared equivalent to gold and introduced into international circulation. The second agreement was concluded in 1944. in Bretton Woods (USA), It laid the foundations for the post-war monetary system of capitalism. The US dollar, exchanged for gold at the official price ($35 per troy ounce - 31.1g), was recognized as the basis for the currency parities of other national units. The weak point in the dollar and pound sterling performing the functions of world money was the contradiction between the international nature of currency relations and the national nature of credit money.

The dictates of leading national currencies in international circulation also manifested themselves in the creation of currency blocs. The sterling block was created after the abolition of the gold standard in England in 1931. It included the countries of the British Empire (except for the Dominions of Canada and Newfoundland, as well as Hong Kong) and states closely associated with Great Britain (Egypt, Iraq, Portugal). The basis of this currency bloc was the maintenance by its member countries of a fixed exchange rate in relation to the currency of the hegemonic country. All payments were proposed to be made in this currency; its reserves were kept in the Bank of England. The dollar bloc, created in 1933, operated on the same principle. after the abolition of the gold standard in the USA (it included the USA, Canada, Latin American countries), as well as the Gold Bloc formed by France.

During and after World War II, currency zones emerged on the basis of currency blocs - sterling and dollar. In addition, on the basis of the Golden Bloc, a franc zone arose; zones of the Dutch guilder, Portuguese escudo, Italian lira and Spanish peseta also appeared.

Currency clearings are settlements between countries based on the offset of mutual claims with payment of the balance in cash. Currency clearings were created during the years of the global economic crisis (1929-1933) and then became widespread in the form of bilateral and multilateral clearings (European Payments Union from 1950 to 1958), the emergence of which was caused by the aggravation of the problem of international liquidity, or the ability of countries to pay their external obligations. As a result, 60% of international settlements were carried out through currency clearings, which by the end of the 60s. were eliminated in most Western European countries with the introduction of currency convertibility.

In order to increase international liquidity and replace national currencies with an international reserve currency, the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a plan to create a new type of liquidity - Special Drawing Rights (SDR). SDRs are means of payment issued by the International Monetary Fund, intended to regulate balances of payments, replenish official reserves and settlements with the IMF, and measure the value of national currencies. In accordance with the Agreement of the IMF member countries in January 1976. In Kingston (Jamaica), the Jamaican monetary system was created instead of the failed Bretton Woods system, at the center of which is the international currency unit of account - the SDR.

Initially in 1970 per unit of SDR, a firmly fixed gold content was taken, like that of the US dollar - 0.888671g of pure gold. However, after two devaluations of the dollar (in 1971 and 1973) and the introduction of “floating” exchange rates from July 1, 1974. the cost of a unit of SDR began to be determined on the basis of a “basket of currencies,” i.e., the weighted average rate of 16 currencies of leading capitalist countries, the share of foreign trade of which was at least 1% of world trade. Since January 1, 1981 the number of currencies in the “currency basket” was reduced to five, after which its composition is reviewed every five years.

So, from January 1, 1991. there was a “basket of currencies” SDR, in which shares of the following currencies were provided: the US dollar - 40%, the German mark - 21, the Japanese yen - 17, the French franc and the British pound sterling - 11% each. One SDR unit was equal to US$1.386.

In March 1979 A new regional international unit of account was introduced, used by member countries of the European Monetary System (EMS) - the ECU (European Currency Unit). The creation of the ECU is due to the development of Western European monetary integration and the desire of the EMU member countries to oppose the European collective currency to the US dollar. Unlike SDRs, which have no real backing, the emission of ECU is half backed by gold and US dollars (by combining 20% ​​of the official gold reserves of the EMU member countries) and half by national currencies. ECU issuance is carried out in the form of entries in the accounts of the central banks of the EMU member countries in the European Monetary Institute (formerly the European Monetary Cooperation Fund). The value of the ECU is determined using the “basket of currencies” method of member countries of the European Union (EU). The share of each currency in the “basket” depends on the country’s share in the EU’s GNP in mutual trade turnover and the European Monetary Institute. In this regard, the largest share in the “basket” is the German mark - 30.1%, the French franc - 19.0, the British pound - 13.0, the Belgian franc - 7.6, the Spanish peseta - 5.3, others - 5.45%.

In accordance with the EMU agreement, the ECU is an international unit of account and a means of interstate settlements for foreign exchange interventions, but mainly - the basis for expressing the parities of the currencies of the participating countries, a regulator of deviations in market exchange rates. Introduced on January 1, 1999 a single currency, the euro, should gradually replace the ECU.

Harmful physical production factors are increased or decreased air temperature in the working area; high humidity and air speed; increased levels of noise, vibration, ultrasound and various radiation - thermal. ionizing, electromagnetic, infrared, etc. Harmful physical factors also include dust and gas contamination in the air of the working area; insufficient lighting of workplaces, passages and passages; increased light brightness and pulsation of light flux.

Chemical hazards and harmful production factors According to the nature of their effect on the human body, they are divided into general toxic, irritating, sensitizing (causing allergic diseases), carcinogenic (causing the development of tumors), mutagenic (acting on the germ cells of the body). This group includes numerous vapors and gases - benzene and toluene, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, lead aerosols, toxic dusts formed, for example, during cutting of beryllium, leaded bronzes and brasses and some plastics with harmful fillers. This group also includes aggressive liquids (acids, alkalis), which can cause chemical burns to the skin upon contact with them.

Hazardous production factor(OPF) is a production factor, the impact of which on a worker under certain conditions leads to injury or another sudden sharp deterioration in health. Trauma is damage to body tissues and disruption of its functions by external influence. An injury is the result of an industrial accident, which is understood as a case of exposure to a hazardous production factor on a worker while performing his job duties or tasks of a work manager.

Let us introduce the concept of basic labor safety standards. As mentioned above, under safe working conditions, exposure of workers to dangerous and harmful production factors is excluded. Is it always possible, in real production conditions, to organize the technological process in such a way that the values ​​of hazardous and harmful production factors affecting workers are equal to zero (so that hazardous and harmful production factors do not affect workers)?

What are hazardous production factors?

Harmful and hazardous production factors affect people to varying degrees. It is important to detect the danger in time and determine its characteristics. For these purposes, labor safety standards and sanitary and hygienic rules are used. They indicate the values ​​of the above factors, within which nothing threatens human health and life. Moreover, we are talking not only about the momentary influence that can manifest itself at the present time while the employee is fulfilling his work duties, but about the subsequent years of his life.

• to the 1st type - equipment, machines, electric current, temperature, humidity, vibration;
• to the 2nd - various toxic and irritating substances that cause allergic reactions, affect the reproductive function of the body, and can damage the respiratory system, skin, and mucous membranes;
• to the 3rd - bacteria, viruses, the results of their vital activity, as well as representatives of flora and fauna;
• by the 4th - physical and emotional stress, monotony of the work performed.

Harmful production factors

• Toxic. They have a negative effect on the entire body, such as carbon monoxide, mercury, and lead.
• Annoying. Substances such as acetone, chlorine, and nitrogen oxides cause irritation of the mucous membranes.
• Carcinogenic. Chromium oxides and beryllium with their compounds can lead to the development of cancer cells.
• Causing allergic reactions.
• Mutagenic. They provoke changes at the cell DNA level.
• Affecting reproductive function.

1. Induction training. It is mandatory for those hired. Age, length of service or position does not matter here.
2. Primary. It is carried out already at your workplace, it is usually carried out by a foreman or the head of a given department or workshop.
3. Repeated. It is carried out for all employees without exception every six months.
4. Unscheduled. It is carried out if:

• The rules have changed.
• The technological process has changed.
• We purchased new equipment.
• Cases of violations of safety regulations by workers were identified.
• After long breaks from work.

What is a harmful production factor? Classification and list

• Vibration remedies. Since such protection reduces work efficiency, you need to take regular breaks.
• Noise protection headphones. But they impair the ability to navigate and contribute to headaches.
• Respirators and gas masks. It is inconvenient to work in them for a long time, so you need to use alternative means.

Due to the constant influence of this factor, not only the nervous system deteriorates, but also the musculoskeletal system and analyzers. Employees who have to constantly work in such an environment complain of headaches, dizziness, and motion sickness. And if humidity, elevated temperature and noise also influence, then the negative impact of vibration increases because of this.

What are harmful production factors?

If a person, constantly working with molten metal, is under the influence of radiant heat emitted by this source, then under the influence of radiation biochemical changes occur in the body, and the activity of the cardiovascular and nervous systems occurs. In addition, prolonged exposure to infrared rays has a harmful effect on the organs of vision - it leads to clouding of the lens. Thus, in the second case, the effect of radiant heat from molten metal on the worker’s body is a harmful production factor.

In the process of life, a person is exposed to various hazards, which are usually understood as phenomena, processes, objects that, under certain conditions, can cause damage to human health directly or indirectly, i.e. cause various undesirable consequences.

Dangerous and harmful production factors

- acceptable conditions- are such combinations of quantitative microclimate parameters that, with prolonged and systematic exposure to a person, can cause transient and quickly normalized changes in the functional and thermal state of the body, accompanied by tension in the mechanisms of thermoregulation that do not go beyond the limits of physiological adaptive capabilities. In this case, no damage or impairment of health occurs, but deterioration in well-being and decreased performance may be observed.

From a physiological point of view, noise is any unwanted sound that has a harmful effect on the human body. Sound with a level of 120-130 dB (decibel) causes pain and damage to the hearing aid (acoustic trauma). The tympanic membrane ruptures at 180 dB, and at 196 dB the lung tissue ruptures. Noise affects the nervous system, causing insomnia, inability to concentrate and, as a result, work errors and accidents.

Harmful factors and their classification

Hospital workers, travelers, and people who work outdoors for long periods of time are at greater risk of contracting various diseases than others. Upon contact with plants or animals, an allergic reaction of the body and infection with helminths may occur.

If you approach some processes thoughtfully, it turns out that sometimes toxic substances can be replaced with safer ones. Many managers do not agree to this for mercantile reasons. Thus, they save on the health of their subordinates. If replacement is not possible, then everything must be done to ensure that the employee is exposed to harmful and dangerous factors as little as possible. To do this, the enterprise, at its own expense, is obliged to provide personnel with all possible means of protection.

What are harmful production factors?

Depending on the time of exposure and intensity, production factors can be dangerous or harmful. With instant action, depending on the time of action and intensity, production factors can be dangerous or harmful. With immediate action, the factor becomes dangerous, and with prolonged exposure it becomes harmful.

no or imperfect natural light, insufficient illumination of the work area, increased brightness of light, lack of contrast between the background and the object of discrimination, glare, increased pulsation of the light flow, increased level of ultraviolet or infrared radiation

Harmful production factors - a condition for their occurrence

This method is usually used for protection against radioactive radiation. It is difficult to protect against such a harmful effect on the human body using available means, and therefore, in this situation, it would be rational to simply be located away from the source of ionizing radiation.

1. The first class, which includes extremely dangerous substances that have the strongest, possibly even fatal, effect on the body.
2. The second class includes highly hazardous substances that may not have an immediate effect on the human body, but as it accumulates.
3. Substances with the third class of harmfulness can provoke minor ailments and diseases associated with it.
4. Low-hazardous substances of the fourth group have virtually no effect on the health of workers.

The study of the question of what belongs to the factors of production belongs to its own kind of sacred cows of economic theory, which considers them as resources that are somehow attracted for production activities. Typically, the concept of the causes of production included such components as labor, land and capital. In the 2nd half of the twentieth century, information was added to these components. Some researchers have also isolated entrepreneurial talent from the concept of “labor” as a separate indicator.

An analysis of the processes occurring in the modern economy gives some grounds to assert that consideration of the structure of the causes of production at the moment requires some addition and clarification.

If we consider what belongs to the factors of production based on the prevailing tendencies in the modern economy, then it becomes completely natural that, for example, marketing has become a completely independent and fundamental factor, the role of which in the criteria of increasing competition can hardly be overestimated.

Here the task of satisfying the needs of the market comes to the fore, which limits the use of administrative methods of management and thereby increases market democracy and professionalism.

The traditional model of competition is: “reduce cost, increase quality, provide additional benefits to the buyer (in terms of payment, delivery, maintenance, etc.).” In addition, the implementation of the functions of competition and the positive consequences of its manifestations in the dynamics of the relationship between the price of consumption and the properties of products, firstly, leads to the impartial need for the formation of a competitive environment. And this should be done not only in the interests of commodity producers, but, firstly, of consumers and, secondly, this will specifically connect the functions of competition with its benefits, both for companies and for the products they create. In this case, it is entirely appropriate to include the competitive advantages of a particular enterprise in the reasons for public production.

With the development of technological, production and management innovations, as well as the globalization of state and international competition, the theory of comparative advantages of the causes of production, which are in abundance, the problem itself, which relates to factors of production, ceases to meet the modern requirements of economic science. Currently, a new theory of competitive advantage is gaining increasing recognition. It means the following:

1. The advantages of the enterprise and product did not become static. They change under the influence of innovation and investment processes in technology and production technology, methods of management and forms of organization, and methods of promoting products to markets.

2. The mechanism for creating market advantages based on competition is not the only one. The government is considered here as an important subject in the formation of competitive strategies and advantages of the enterprise. In this regard, the market mechanism is complemented by a municipal mechanism for regulating competitive relations and the competitiveness of companies.

3. The globalization of the economy forces an enterprise, when forming its own advantages, to take into account not only its own and industry interests, but also national and international conditions.

All this indicates that, answering the question of what belongs to the factors of production, we can state with a certain degree of conviction that competitive advantages have become a completely tangible and separate factor. To create them, the state needs to take measures to create a competitive environment and protect competition, stimulate the constant implementation of innovations, optimize and improve municipal regulation, taking into account trends in the development of the global economy.

These advantages can be found as the efficiency of an enterprise’s activities in any area, which, firstly, gives it the best (compared to its competitors) ability to attract and retain consumers, and secondly, allows it to receive a measured profit in this base to ensure the reproduction of fixed capital.

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