The primary basis of life is social production. Before engaging in science, art, politics, people must have a minimum means of subsistence: a roof over their heads, clothes, food. And therefore, if we want to touch the complex tangle of social relations, to open economic ties, social processes and to determine the direction, the tendencies in their movement, we must first of all consider social production as the source of all well-being.
Production is not the only factor that determines the wealth of countries and peoples. On economic development natural resources, climate, natural fertility of the earth, accumulated knowledge and experience of people, population and other factors. However, society can obtain a certain result only if it uses the effect inherent in these factors in the production process.
Under production is understood as the process of man's influence on the objects and forces of nature and their adaptation to satisfy one or another of his needs. It has three components: working human strength, objects of labor and means of labor.
Under labor force refers to the totality of physical and spiritual abilities that the body possesses and which are realized in the course of the labor process. As the social production change in nature and content work force. In the early stages of the development of society, the main role was played by the physical abilities of a person to work. As production development, especially in the conditions of the modern scientific and technological revolution, ever higher demands are placed on the mental abilities of a person, on his intellectual level, scientific and technical education, qualifications and other qualities.
The labor force is personal factor of production, and man - as its carrier, the worker - as the main productive force.
The subject of labor- this is all that human labor is aimed at, which constitutes the material basis of the future product. If at the dawn of civilization the object of labor was exclusively the substance of nature, then with the development of production, science and technology, among the objects of labor an increasing place is occupied by products of production, which are called raw materials.
Means of labor- these are things or complexes of things with the help of which a person processes objects of labor, influences them. These include a variety of tools, mechanisms, means of communication, communication routes, land, etc. As production develops, the means of labor develop, improve, and become more complex.
The objects of labor and the means of labor together act as a material factor of production, as means of production.
Production cannot be thought of as a mechanical combination of its elements. This is a complex system of interaction between the workforce and means of production, i.e. with his material basis. The methods of combining the factors of production determine the system of production relations that dominate society. The content of production relations is determined by the level of development productive forces, and the nature of their manifestation - a way of connecting the worker with the means of production, i.e. ownership of the means of production.
In society, certain types, types of property always dominate: private, collective, small-scale labor, state, mixed, etc. At the same time, they change, develop under the influence of changes in the material conditions of production and are in various combinations, in constant relationships. If property relations cease to change, then the productive forces are fettered in their development, and technical and social progress is hindered. Ownership relations determine the ownership of the produced product, the form of its distribution, the nature of exchange and the level of consumption. different groups of people. Often the concept of ownership comes down to the ownership of certain property, capital (plant, factory, house, bank account, etc.). This is not entirely true.
The volume of property of the mayor of the city is determined not by his bank account and personal property, but by the opportunities that the position actually gives him.
Every society is based on a few universal economic conditions. Some fundamental problems retain the same importance in the modern economy as they had in the ancient world. Any society, no matter what stage of civilization it is at, is always faced with three main and interrelated problems:
1. What should be done, i.e. Which of the mutually exclusive goods and services should be produced and in what quantity? What would you like to have immediately, what can you wait to receive, and what should you refuse altogether? Sometimes the choice can be very difficult.
2. How will goods be produced, by whom, with what resources and what technology, at what types of enterprises? There are various options for the production of the entire set of goods and each of them separately. According to various projects, it is possible to build an industrial and residential building, use land, produce cars, etc. The decision on production can be made at the level of the state or a private firm.
3.For whom are the produced goods intended, in what proportions will they be distributed among people, families, who will benefit from them? Since the number of goods and services created is limited, the problem of their distribution arises. The solution of this problem determines the goals of society, the incentives for its development.
These three questions are fundamental and common to all economic systems, to all farms. At different stages of its development, society uses a different approach and tools to identify and take into account production and personal needs and to distribute material and human resources according to activities where the necessary products, services and ideas are developed.
The economy of a modern state is divided into sectors. It includes manufacturing industries and types of non-manufacturing activities. The concepts of "production" and "non-production" spheres are the largest structural characteristics of the economy.
Non-manufacturing sphere(or the service sector) includes activities that do not create a material (material) product. As a rule, the following branches of the non-manufacturing sphere are distinguished:
· Department of Housing and Utilities;
· non-production types consumer services population;
· health care, physical culture and social security;
· public education;
· finance, credit, insurance, pension provision;
· Culture and art;
· science and scientific service;
· control;
· public associations.
Manufacturing("real sector" - in modern terminology) is a set of industries and activities, the result of which is a material product (goods). The composition of the branches of material production usually includes industry, agriculture, transport, communications.
The division into branches is due to the social division of labor. There are three forms of social division of labor: general, particular, individual.
General division of labor expressed in the division of social production into large spheres of material production (industry, agriculture, transport, communications ...).
Private division of labor manifests itself in the formation of various independent branches within industry, agriculture and other branches of material production. For example, in industry there are:
· electric power industry;
· fuel industry;
· ferrous metallurgy;
· non-ferrous metallurgy;
· chemical and petrochemical industry;
· mechanical engineering and metalworking;
· timber, woodworking and pulp and paper industries;
· building materials industry;
· light industry;
· food industry.
In turn, each of them consists of highly specialized industries. For example, non-ferrous metallurgy includes copper, lead-zinc, tin and other industries.
Single division of labor takes place in an enterprise, institution, organization between people of different professions and specialties.
The most important branch of production is industry, which consists of many branches and industries that are interconnected.
Under industry is understood as a set of enterprises that produce products that are homogeneous in terms of economic purpose and are characterized by the commonality of processed raw materials, the homogeneity of the technical base ( technological processes and equipment), professional staff.
1. Production means:
1) the process of creating wealth;
2) the process of converting productive resources into goods;
3) the process by which the problem of the rarity of goods is solved;
4) the process of creating goods that meet the requirements of the market.
2. The production function reflects:
1) any functional relationship between the input factors of production;
2) functional relationship between technology and output;
3) the optimal combination of production factors;
4) the ability of the enterprise to carry out profitable production.
3. Technological efficiency is:
1) the best way decrease production costs;
2) application of the most advanced technology for the given conditions;
3) the best way to replace workers in production with machines;
4) the best combination of production factors to ensure a given volume of output.
4. Long term versus short term:
1) avoids excessive use of equipment;
2) allows more extensive use of two-shift operation;
3) narrows the possibilities for restructuring production;
4) expands the capabilities of the enterprise in achieving technological efficiency.
5. A variable factor is a factor of production:
3) the productivity of which changes during the production process;
4) whose performance varies depending on the technology.
6. Which of the following can be attributed to a variable factor:
1) rolling stock railway;
2) hydroelectric turbine;
3) area trading floor retail store;
4) number of breeding stock.
7. A constant factor is understood as a factor of production:
1) the value of which can be changed within a short-term period;
2) the value of which can be changed within the long-term period;
3) the performance of which can be changed during the production process;
4) whose performance does not change depending on the technology.
18. Which of the following indicators characterizes the value of the production function:
1) the total product from the variable factor;
2) the average product from the variable factor;
3) marginal product from a variable factor;
4) the average product of the constant factor.
9. The operation of the law of diminishing marginal productivity of the factor indicates that:
1) the immutability of technology limits the opportunities for increasing output;
2) the marginal product of the variable factor is always decreasing;
3) in the long run, an increase in the use of a factor leads to a decrease in its productivity;
4) in the short term, there are restrictions on the increase in output.
10. When the average product of a variable factor rises and its marginal product falls, we can say that:
1) the law of diminishing returns ceased to operate;
2) the total product of production began to decline;
3) more efficient technologies began to be used in production;
4) production has not reached its maximum output.
11. Effective use of the variable factor in production is achieved when:
1) the marginal productivity of its use is the same in all production processes;
2) most of it is used in the most efficient production process;
3) its average productivity is the highest;
4) its average productivity is higher than the marginal productivity.
12. It is optimal to use such an amount of a variable factor in which:
1) the highest marginal productivity of the factor is achieved;
2) the highest average productivity of the factor is achieved;
3) the maximum output is achieved;
4) the average productivity of the factor is higher than the marginal productivity.
13. When the average product from a variable factor increases, and its marginal product decreases, then a further increase in the application of the variable factor leads to:
1) reducing the efficiency of its use;
2) increase in the efficiency of its use;
3) violation of the optimal ratio of production factors;
4) decrease overall efficiency production.
14. Which of the following definitions correctly characterizes the concept of "isoquant":
1) a line showing all combinations of factors of production that ensure equality in the productivity of factors;
2) a line showing all changes in factor productivity;
3) a line showing the ratio of the average productivity of factors in the short and long run;
4) a line showing all possible combinations of factors of production that provide a given volume of output.
15. The marginal rate of technological substitution is:
1) an indicator of the proportion in which the ratio of the average and marginal productivity of factors changes;
2) an indicator of the proportion in which one factor should be replaced by another while maintaining the same volume of output;
3) an indicator that reflects the degree of technological complexity of the replacement of production factors in the short term;
4) an indicator reflecting the degree of technological complexity of the replacement of production factors in the long run.
16. The optimal combination of production factors is achieved when:
1) the marginal rate of technological substitution is the maximum;
2) the marginal products of the factors of production are equal;
3) a stable excess of the average productivity over the limit is ensured;
4) the positive effect of scale is completely exhausted.
17. Scale effect means:
1) the nature of the change in the ratio between the increase in factors of production and the change in output;
2) the nature of the change in the ratio between the increase in factors of production and the change in their productivity;
3) the nature of changes in the volume of output when using more efficient technology;
4) the nature of the change in the ratio between the volume of short-term and long-term output.
18. If the volume of output increases in proportion greater than the increase in factors of production, then in this case:
1) neutral scale effect;
2) decreasing economies of scale;
3) constant economies of scale;
4) positive economies of scale.
19. If the marginal rate of substitution of factors of production is zero, then we can say that:
1) reducing the factor by one does not cause changes in the volume of output;
2) technology does not allow the replacement of one factor by another;
3) go to new technology does not give any positive effect;
4) there is a neutral type of scale effect.
20. If the technology remains unchanged, then what can be said about the relative productivity of the factor of production for the short run and the long run:
1) it will be higher in the short term;
2) it will be higher in the long run;
3) it will be the same;
4) the type of period does not affect the performance of the factor.
21. The average product of a resource is called:
1) the ratio of the volume of the resource used to the total product;
2) additional output produced by incrementing a given factor of production;
3) the ratio of the total product to the volume of the resource used;
4) additional income received from the sale of an additional unit of production.
22. The enterprise doubled the amount of all resources. At the same time, the output increased by 1.5 times. It means that:
1) economies of scale are decreasing, but labor productivity has increased;
2) economies of scale are increasing, and labor productivity has increased;
3) economies of scale are decreasing, and labor productivity has decreased;
4) economies of scale are unchanged, and labor productivity has decreased.
23. If, with a constant output, the marginal product of labor decreases, then it can be argued that:
1) the average product of labor is growing;
2) the average product of capital decreases;
3) the average product of capital grows;
4) MRTS L ,K increases.
24. The enterprise uses capital K and labor L in such a combination that their marginal products are: MP K = 10, MP L = 16. The prices of factors are equal, respectively: Pk = 3, P L = 4. What will the company do:
1) use more labor and less capital;
2) use less labor and more capital;
3) use more labor and more capital;
4) use less labor and less capital.
25. An enterprise increases the use of labor and capital in the same proportion, while the elasticity of output with respect to labor increases, while the elasticity of output with respect to capital does not change. It means that:
1) MRTS L ,K decreased;
2) the marginal product of labor has decreased;
3) MRTS L ,K increased;
4) the production function is characterized by constant returns to scale.
26. An enterprise that has monopoly power in the market for products, but does not have a monopoly in the markets for factors of production, will hire:
1) more labor than competitive enterprises, but pay lower wages;
2) less labor and pay lower wages compared to competitive enterprises;
3) more labor and pay higher wages;
4) less labor and pay the same wages as competitive enterprises.
27. If an enterprise increases the cost of resources by 10%, and the volume of production increases by 15%, then in this case:
1) there is a negative effect on the scale of production;
2) the law of diminishing productivity is in effect;
3) there is a positive effect of scale of production;
4) the long-run average cost curve shifts up.
28. An enterprise that has a monopoly in the labor market but does not have monopoly power in the product market will:
1) hire less labor and pay lower wages than competitors;
2) hire more labor and pay higher wages;
3) hire less labor and pay the same wages as competitors;
4) hire more labor than competitors, but pay lower wages.
29. Derived demand for a production resource is determined by:
1) demand for other factors of production;
2) the type of market supplying the factor of production;
3) demand for the product supplied by the enterprise;
4) ultimate performance production factor;
30. When an enterprise acquires a productive resource in a market characterized by imperfect competition, then, all other things being equal, the enterprise will:
1) acquire a resource at a price below its marginal resource cost;
2) acquire a resource at a price higher than its marginal resource cost;
3) acquire a resource at a price equal to its marginal resource cost;
4) to acquire a resource at a price below its marginal cost and in a larger volume.
31. Unlike other markets for productive resources, the mechanism for establishing market equilibrium in the land market has the specific feature that:
1) buyers face an inelastic supply curve;
2) the rules for concluding transactions when buying land are regulated by the state;
3) buyers are faced with a lack of information;
4) land sellers interact strategically with each other.
32. Price of land:
1) is directly dependent on the interest rate;
2) determined by the quality of the land;
3) depends on the price of substitute factors;
4) represents a capitalized rent;
33. If the state raises the tax on land, then the consequence of this, other things being equal, will be:
1) an increase in the rate of land rent;
2) rent growth;
3) increase in the price of land;
4) reduction in the income of the owner of the land.
34. Monopsony is a type market structure, which has the following distinguishing features:
1) many sellers are opposed by one buyer;
2) a lot of buyers is opposed by one seller;
3) market demand is perfectly inelastic;
4) market demand is perfectly elastic.
35. The law showing that an increase in the cost of one resource, while the use of other resources and technologies remains unchanged, brings less marginal revenue, is called the law:
1) offers;
2) demand;
3) diminishing marginal utility;
4) decreasing marginal productivity.
36. The elasticity of demand for labor is higher:
1) the lower the share of labor costs in the costs of the enterprise;
2) the lower the price of finished products;
3) the higher the price elasticity of demand for finished products;
4) the less the possibility of replacing labor with capital in this process.
37. Suppose that the company is a monopsonist in the labor market. In equilibrium, the wages of its workers are:
1) is equal to the marginal product of labor in monetary terms;
2) less than the marginal product of labor in monetary terms;
3) more than the marginal product of labor in monetary terms;
4) any of the listed options is possible;
38. The demand of an enterprise for the labor of workers is described as L = 200 -0.3W, where L is the number of employees hired, W is the monthly rate wages. State-established minimum wage of 600 den. units per month. Under these conditions, the maximum number of employees that an enterprise can hire is equal to:
39. If the rent from a land plot of 10 hectares amounted to 120 thousand den per year. units, and the bank interest rate is 20%, then the price of this land plot will be equal to:
1) 120 thousand den. units;
2) 240 thousand den. units;
3) 500 thousand den. units;
4) 600 thousand den. units
40. The investor invested 30 thousand den in the project. units, expecting to pay it back in 3 years. It is expected that the annual income will be constant, and the bank interest will be equal to 10%. What level of annual income for the project is the minimum acceptable for an investor:
1) 10 thousand den. units;
2) 12 thousand den. units;
3) 14 thousand den. units;
4) 16 thousand den. units
41. If a landowner who receives from his plot of land of 4 hectares a rent of 2400 den. units per year, decides to sell it, then the price of land at a bank interest rate of 12% will be:
1) 20000 den. units;
2) 24000 den. units;
3) 28800 den. units;
4) 50000 den. units
42. The investor has invested 100 thousand den in the project. units, expecting to pay it back in 2 years. It is expected that the annual income will be constant, and the bank interest will be equal to 20%. Then the minimum acceptable level of annual income for the investor is:
1) 55 thousand den. units;
2) 60 thousand den. units;
3) 65 thousand den. units;
4) 70 thousand den. units
43. For the production of a certain product, 2 factors are required: labor and land. In which of the following cases is cost minimization achieved?
Lecture 2. Social production: essence, structure, results
1. General characteristics of economic activity
All the variety of definitions of the subject of economic theory can be reduced to a single beginning: the center of its study is the economic activity of people, which develops according to the general laws of human interaction with nature. This is a very complex and intricate complex of various phenomena and processes. In industrial developed countries ah now stands out about 500 major industries and blocks of the economy, where tens of millions of goods and services are produced to meet the production and personal needs of people. Each of the economic blocks, in turn, has a complex structure. At the same time, economic activity is carried out not just by members of society, but by economic agents represented by employees, property owners, bankers, households, etc. At all stages economic activity between groups of people, enterprises, owners, within firms, between town and country, between citizens, all of them on the one hand, and the state on the other hand develop economic relations. Outside of these relations, with broken economic ties, a product will not be developed to meet existing needs.
The need is the need for something necessary for the maintenance of life, the development of the individual and society as a whole. Needs are divided into primary, satisfying the vital needs of a person and secondary (cinema, theater, sports, etc.). More often they are considered as material and spiritual needs. Material needs include many types of services. From the point of view of final use, economic benefits are divided into personal and industrial.
The need for economic activity is caused by existing needs. However, a firm or other entrepreneur is not at all concerned with the desire to satisfy this or that social need. The bee does not collect nectar to pollinate flowers, but it cannot extract honey without pollinating the flower. So it is with an enterprise: its goal is profit, but it can receive profit only by serving the interests of society.
IN general plan four stages are distinguished in economic activity: PRODUCTION - DISTRIBUTION - EXCHANGE - CONSUMPTION, and the whole process of activity proceeds in a contradictory form. As a rule, resources are less than necessary to meet all the needs at a given level of economic development. The main property of resources is their rarity or limitation. The needs of society are boundless and cannot be completely satisfied.
According to V. Leontiev, - the economy of each country is a large system in which there are a lot of different types of activities and all of them interact with each other. The content and nature of the interaction of elements in this complex system determines its very "face", the effectiveness of its functioning.
It must be borne in mind that each stage in the creation and promotion of the finished product for consumption is a subsystem in the general system of economic relations. The subsystem has its own specific laws that express stable causal relationships in a given economic process, in a given link. Shares major owner material conditions of production and a well-working person will always be higher in comparison with a negligent or inept worker, as well as the owner of less capital.
2. Social production and its role in the life of society
The primary basis of life is social production. Before engaging in science, art, politics and love, people must have a minimum means of subsistence: a roof over their heads, clothes, food. And therefore, if we want to touch the complex tangle of social relations, reveal economic ties, social processes and determine the direction, trends in their movement, we first need to consider social production as the source of all prosperity.
Production is not the only factor that determines the wealth of countries and peoples. Economic development is influenced by natural resources, climate, the natural fertility of the land, the knowledge and experience accumulated by people, the population and other factors. However, society can obtain a certain result only if it uses the effect inherent in these factors in the production process.
Production is understood as the process of man's influence on the objects and forces of nature and their adaptation to satisfy one or another of his needs. Three components interact in it: human labor power, objects of labor and means of labor.
Under the labor force is understood the totality of physical and spiritual abilities that the body possesses and which are realized in the course of the labor process. As social production develops, the nature and content of the labor force change. In the early stages of the development of society, the main role was played by the physical abilities of a person to work. With the development of production, especially in the conditions of the modern scientific and technological revolution, ever higher demands are placed on the mental abilities of a person, on his intellectual level, scientific and technical education, qualifications and other qualities.
The labor force acts as a personal factor of production, and the person - as its carrier, the worker - as the main productive force.
The subject of labor is everything that human labor is aimed at, which constitutes the material basis of the future product. If at the dawn of civilization the object of labor was exclusively the substance of nature, then with the development of production, science and technology, among the objects of labor an increasing place is occupied by products of production, which are called raw materials.
Means of labor are things or complexes of things with the help of which a person processes objects of labor, influences them. These include various instruments of labor, mechanisms, means of communication, means of communication, land, etc. As the production of means of labor develops, they improve, they become more complex.
The objects of labor and means of labor together act as a material factor of production, as a means of production.
Production cannot be thought of as a mechanical combination of its elements. This is a complex system of interaction between the labor force and the means of production, i.e. with its material basis. The methods of combining the factors of production determine the system of production relations that dominate society. The content of production relations is determined by the level of development of productive forces, and the nature of their manifestation is determined by the way the worker is connected with the means of production, i.e. ownership of the means of production.
In society, certain types, types of property always dominate: private, collective, small-scale labor, state, mixed, etc. At the same time, they change, develop under the influence of changes in the material conditions of production and are in various combinations, in constant connections. If property relations cease to change, then the productive forces are fettered in their development, technical and social progress is hampered. Ownership relations determine the ownership of the produced product, the form of its distribution, the nature of the exchange and the level of consumption of different groups of people.
Often the concept of ownership comes down to the ownership of certain property, capital (plant, factory, house, bank account, etc.). This is not entirely true.
The volume of property of the mayor of the city is determined not by his bank account and personal property, but by the opportunities that the position actually gives him.
3. Central problems of economic activity and ways to resolve them in different economic systems
Every society is based on a few universal economic conditions. Some fundamental problems retain the same importance in the modern economy as they had in the ancient world.
Any society, no matter what stage of civilization it is at, always faces three main and interrelated problems:
1. What should be done, i.e. Which of the mutually exclusive goods and services should be produced and in what quantity?
What you would like to have immediately, what you can wait to receive, and what you can refuse altogether. Sometimes the choice can be very difficult.
2. How will goods be produced, by whom, with what resources and by what technology, at what types of enterprises?
There are various options for the production of the entire set of goods and each of them separately. According to various projects, it is possible to build an industrial and residential building, use land, produce cars, etc. The decision on production can be made at the level of the state or a private firm.
3. For whom are the produced goods intended, in what proportions will they be distributed among people, families, who will benefit from them?
Since the number of goods and services created is limited, the problem of their distribution arises. The solution of this problem determines the goals of society, the incentives for its development.
These three questions are fundamental and common to all economic systems, to all farms. But in different economic systems they are resolved in different ways. At different stages of its development, society uses a different approach and tools to identify and take into account production and personal needs and to allocate material and human resources to activities where the necessary products, services and ideas are developed.
Mankind in its development has developed several ways of orderly distribution of limited resources and production results among competing goals.
In the world economic literature, the most widespread classification of economic systems according to two criteria:
1. According to the form of ownership of the means of production.
2. By the way in which economic activity is coordinated and managed.
These methods can be summarized in three main groups:
1. Based on traditions and customs.
2. Based on command and control methods.
3. Based on the market mechanism.
In the conditions of a primitive civilization, people's behavior can be determined by customs, and when solving questions: "What? How? For whom?" - can be contacted traditional methods doing business. To members of another culture, this practice may seem strange and reckless, but members of the community will be surprised, and perhaps offended, if they are asked about the motives for behavior.
In underdeveloped countries, traditions passed down from generation to generation determine what goods and services are produced, how and for whom. Technological progress penetrates these systems with great difficulty.
“As the other extreme,” writes P. Samuelson, “one can imagine a powerful benevolent or evil dictator who, arbitrarily, by his decrees or orders, decides the question:“ What? How? For whom?” It is not difficult to understand that we are talking here about the administrative-command economy of the former USSR.
It arose on the basis of the complete socialization of the material conditions of production, when there appeared not only the possibility, but also the necessity of managing households according to a premeditated plan on the scale of the whole society. The center began to determine the functional orientation of each production unit and bring to it the planned targets for all performance indicators. In a command economy, the question is: "What? How? For whom?" is determined by the government, and often by the "ruler", who orders individuals and firms to carry out the plan brought to them from above at any cost. With such a system, society ceases to develop according to objective laws, and its exit into a dead end is historically inevitable.
The market mechanism is a form of organization of farms in which individual producers and consumers interact through purchase and sale (exchange) in order to solve the main problems of the economy. In the market mechanism, none of the individuals or organizations is consciously engaged in solving the triune problem: what, how and for whom to produce. Simply, consumers and producers meet in the market and determine the prices of goods and production volumes.
The first issue, "What to produce?", is voted on by the buyer's dollar. The demand for good "H" is evidenced by a quite decent price. No other motive for its production is needed. The buyer voted on the price of the item.
The second problem - "How to produce?", is determined by competition between producers. To "survive" and have a profit, it is necessary to reduce costs or keep them at a minimum level. For this, it is necessary to constantly find more effective methods housekeeping. Not the last place in this rivalry is occupied by the quality of the products or services produced. As we can see, in the market mechanism, personal benefit turns into benefit for the whole society. After more than two hundred years, A. Smith's conclusion is confirmed: "... not a single individual ... will think about the public interest ... He will strive only for his own personal benefit, and in this case, as in many others, he will be guided by an invisible hand that leads him to a goal that has nothing to do with his intentions." ("Wealth of Nations", IV, ch. II).
The third problem - "For whom to produce", is resolved by the ratio of supply and demand. The market is controlled by the consumer, the level of technology and the organization of production. The consumer, by his demand, indicates where to direct resources. The producer sets his prices for goods and services on the basis of production costs, and also moves his capital from one industry to another depending on the income received.
There is a certain order in the market system: everything that is not viable, not in demand, ineffective is discarded. And the one who failed to assess the market situation is doomed to ruin.
Questions: "What? How? For whom to produce?" would not be a problem if resources were not limited. With unlimited possibilities and full satisfaction of human needs, it would not be of great importance to overproduce any commodity. But a high level of production always entails a high level of consumption. Each of us knows that the objects that surround us in everyday life go far beyond the boundaries of the minimum necessary to sustain life. Demands are growing faster than our capabilities.
The considered classification of ways to solve the triune problem: "What? How? For whom to produce?" to a certain extent conditional. In fact, command and control methods can be combined with the use of a price system, with elements of a market economy, and also take into account the traditions and customs that have developed in a given society. The market is not omnipotent either. It cannot solve all human problems, and sometimes gives unacceptable solutions.
It should immediately be noted that in this pure form the market economy does not exist. Modern economic systems are mixed formations. The market closely interacts with the state. Different countries have developed their own models of a mixed economy.
The Swedish system is characterized by the vigorous participation of the state in ensuring economic stability and the redistribution of income. The core of this system is social politics state backed by high levels of taxation.
Here, differences in the incomes of the population are relatively small, with an overall high level of social security.
The Japanese economic model is characterized by advanced planning and coordination between the government and the private sector. The plans are government programs(recommendatory character), orienting individual parts of the economy towards the fulfillment of national tasks.
IN American economy the state plays an important role in approving the rules of the economic game, developing education, and regulating business.
4. Social product, its composition and stages of movement
The production possibilities of society have always been limited. With an increase in population, it became necessary to involve new lands and a variety of natural resources in the economic circulation. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the growth rate of the resources used remained relatively small. This was explained, on the one hand, by a certain stability in the needs of the population, and, on the other hand, by the limited growth of the population itself. Two thousand years ago, 230-250 million people lived on Earth, in 1800 - a little more than 900 million, in 1900 - 1.5 billion, 1960 - about 3 billion, 1995 - 5.5 billion. Human. The rate of population growth has risen sharply in the current century, although at the very end of the 18th century. The young English priest Thomas Robert Malthus developed the law of diminishing returns. According to this law, food will increase in the ratio of one, two, three, and the population - one, two, four, etc.
In connection with the ongoing population explosion over the past forty-fifty years, as many natural resources have been involved in the economic turnover as they have been used in the entire history of the development of civilization up to that time. Justification of the choice of the use of limited resources has become one of the central problems of management.
The result of management in any economic system is the produced product. It represents the sum of all the benefits created during the year and has a double value. First of all, these are various items and services produced to meet the production and personal needs of people.
The second value of a social product lies in the fact that it has a value, embodies a certain amount of labor expended and shows the cost of what efforts this product was produced.
In Soviet statistics, this product was called the total or gross product. It includes material goods and services created in material production, and intangible goods and services created in non-material production (spiritual, moral values, education, healthcare, etc.). According to its value structure, the total product consists of the value of the spent means of production, the necessary product, consisting of goods and services for personal consumption, and the surplus product intended to expand consumption and production. K. Marx showed this by the formula:
C + Y + m = K (1)
Where: WITH
- the cost of the spent means of production;
Y
- wage;
m
- surplus value.
An important form of social product is the final product. It is formed by subtracting the entire turnover of objects of labor from the gross product, i.e. by eliminating their re-counting.
According to American statistics, the net national product (NP) is the market value of all final goods produced in the country during the year. There is no re-calculation in it (for example, the cost of dough is excluded from the cost of bread, the cost of metal is excluded from the cost of a car, etc.). NP can be measured in three ways:
1. As the sum of added values added during the production of final goods by each producer during the year.
2. As the sum of the incomes received in the form of wages, interest, rent and profits by those who during the year used their resources for production.
3. As the sum of spending on final goods purchased by consumers, firms and government, i.e. final sales amount.
The wealth of a nation cannot be judged by the size of this product. It has a lot of conventions, and the comparison of NP different countries rather characterizes the level of development of nations than the standard of living of the population. When comparing and comparing NPs, constant prices must be applied.
If we completely exclude material costs from the gross social product ( WITH ), i.e. costs of materialized labor of past years, then we get the net income of society. In economic theory and modern accounting and statistical practice, the net product of society is called the national income.
The social product created in the process of production passes through the stages of distribution, exchange and consumption in its movement. Along the entire path of its movement, certain economic relations are formed, constantly maintained and developed between people. The main determining factors are the relations that take place in the production itself. They leave an imprint on the entire subsequent chain of economic relations, determine their nature, direction of development.
K. Marx noted that each mode of production has its own way of distributing the created product. But distributive relations are not passive. In some cases, they can slow down production, in others they can act as an accelerator.
Through distribution and exchange, the return to production of various means of production and labor power is ensured. Thus, proportionality in the economy is maintained or disorder occurs in the entire economic mechanism (budget deficit, inflation, unemployment, etc.).
At the distribution stage, the proportion of different classes is established, social groups and individuals in production product. This share reaches the consumer through the exchange. Exchange mediates the relationship between production and distribution on the one hand and consumption on the other. It represents the purchase and sale of the total product. Enterprises, organizations and the population act as sellers and buyers. A prerequisite for the continuity of the production process itself is complete implementation created product.
Under this condition, production will receive the necessary influx of material and human resources, and the population will receive its share in the product, determined by distribution relations.
The final stage in the movement of the social product is consumption. Starting from production, the product completely or gradually disappears into consumption. This ensures the reproduction of human life itself and its activities.
Review questions:
1. Name two properties of the product of manufacture.2. Define "objects of labor" and "means of labor."
3. Define the labor force.
4. Name the central problems of any economic system and reveal their content.
5. List the main ways to solve the main problems of any economic system.
6. What do you understand by production and social product?
7. Define the market mechanism.
8. Name the main differences between a market economy and an administrative-command economy.
9. What is the difference between the gross social product and the net product or national income?
10. Expand the content of the forms of housekeeping.
11. What is the double value of the social product?
12. What elements make up the value of the gross product?
13. What do you understand by economic resources and their rarity?
14. What factors influence the life and well-being of nations?
15. Why is production given the role of a decisive factor?
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Production is understood as any activity for the use of natural, material, technical and intellectual resources to obtain both tangible and intangible benefits.
With the development of human society, the nature of production is changing. In the early stages of human development, natural, natural, "naturally occurring" elements of the productive forces dominated. Yes, and the man himself at this time in more was a product of nature. Production during this period was called natural.
With the development of the means of production and of man himself, the “historically created” material and technical elements of the productive forces begin to predominate. This is the age of capital.
At present, knowledge, technology, and the intellectual resources of the person himself are of decisive importance. Our era is the era of informatization, the era of the dominance of scientific and technical elements of the productive forces. Possession of knowledge, new technologies is crucial for production. In many developed countries, the task of universal informatization of society is set. The world is developing at an amazing pace computer network Internet.
traditional role general theory production is carried out by the theory of material production, understood as the process of transforming production resources into a product. The main production resources are labor (L) and capital (K). The modes of production or existing production technologies determine how much output is produced with given amounts of labor and capital. Mathematically existing technologies are expressed through a production function. If we denote the volume of output by Y, then the production function can be written:
This expression means that the volume of output is a function of the amount of capital and the amount of labor. The production function describes the set of currently existing technologies. If a better technology is invented, then with the same expenditure of labor and capital, output increases. Consequently, changes in technology also change the production function.
Methodologically, the theory of production is largely symmetrical to the theory of consumption. However, if in the theory of consumption the main categories are measured only subjectively or are not yet subject to measurement at all, then the main categories of the theory of production have an objective basis and can be measured in certain natural or value units.
Despite the fact that the concept of “production” may seem very broad, vaguely expressed and even vague, since in real life “production” means an enterprise, a construction site, an agricultural farm, and transport company, and a very large organization such as a branch of the national economy, nevertheless, economic and mathematical modeling highlights something in common that is inherent in all these objects. This common is the process of converting primary resources (production factors) into the final results of the process. In connection with the main and initial concept, the description of an economic object becomes a “technological method”, which is usually represented as a cost-output vector v, including a listing of the volumes of resources expended (vector x) and information about the results of their transformation into final products or other characteristics (profit, profitability, etc.) (vector y):
The dimension of the vectors x and y, as well as the methods of their measurement (in natural or cost units) significantly depend on the problem under study, on the levels at which certain tasks of economic planning and management are posed. The set of vectors - technological methods that can serve as a description (from a reasonable point of view of the researcher with accuracy) of the production process that is actually feasible at some object, is called the technological set V of this object. For definiteness, we will assume that the dimension of the input vector x is equal to N, and the dimension of the output vector y, respectively, M. Thus, the technological method v is a vector of dimension (M + N), and the technological set . Among all technological methods implemented at the facility, a special place is occupied by methods that compare favorably with all others in that they require either lower costs for the same output, or correspond to a larger output at the same cost. Those of them that occupy in a certain sense the limiting position in the set V are of particular interest, since they are a description of a feasible and marginally profitable real production process.
Let's say that the vector 
preferred over vector 
with designation:
if the following conditions are met:
1) 
;
2) 
and at least one of the following occurs:
a) there is a number i0 such that ;
b) there is a number j0 such that .
A technological method is called effective if it belongs to the technological set V and there is no other vector that would be preferable. The above definition means that those methods are considered effective that cannot be improved in any cost component, in any position of the product, without ceasing to be acceptable. The set of all technologically efficient methods will be denoted by V*. It is a subset of the technological set V or coincides with it. In essence, the task of planning the economic activity of a production facility can be interpreted as the task of choosing an effective technological method that best suits some external conditions. When solving such a choice problem, the idea of the very nature of the technological set V, as well as its effective subset V*, turns out to be quite significant.
In some cases, it is possible to allow within the framework of fixed production the possibility of interchangeability of some resources ( various kinds fuel; machines and workers, etc.). At the same time, the mathematical analysis of such productions is based on the premise of the continual nature of the set V, and therefore on the fundamental possibility of representing variants of mutual replacement using continuous and even differentiable functions defined on V. This approach has received its greatest development in the theory of production functions.
Using the concept of an effective technological set, a production function (PF) can be defined as a mapping:
y = f(x) , where .
This mapping is, generally speaking, multi-valued, i.e. the set f(x) contains more than one point. However, for many realistic situations, the production functions turn out to be single-valued and even, as mentioned above, differentiable. In the simplest case, the production function is a scalar function of N arguments:
.
Here, the value of y, as a rule, has a value character, expressing the volume of production in monetary terms. The arguments are the volumes of resources expended in the implementation of the corresponding efficient technological method. Thus, the above relation describes the boundary of the technological set V, since for a given cost vector (x1,...,xN) it is impossible to produce products in an amount greater than y, and the production of products in an amount less than the specified one corresponds to an inefficient technological method . The expression for the production function can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the management method adopted at a given enterprise. Indeed, for a given set of resources, one can determine the actual output and compare it with that calculated from the production function. The resulting difference provides useful material for evaluating efficiency in absolute and relative terms.
The production function is a very useful apparatus for planning calculations, and therefore a statistical approach has now been developed to construct production functions for specific economic units. In this case, a certain standard set of algebraic expressions is usually used, the parameters of which are found using the methods of mathematical statistics. This approach means, in essence, estimating the production function based on the implicit assumption that the observed production processes are effective. Among the various types of production functions, linear functions of the form are most often used:
,
since for them the problem of estimating coefficients from statistical data is easily solved, as well as power functions:
,
for which the problem of finding the parameters is reduced to estimating the linear form by passing to logarithms.
Under the assumption that the production function is differentiable at each point in the set X of possible combinations of input resources, it is useful to consider some quantities associated with the PF.
In particular, the differential:
is the change in the cost of output when moving from the costs of a set of resources x = (x1,...,xN) to a set x + dx = (x1+dx1,...,xN+dxN) provided that the efficiency property of the corresponding technological methods is preserved . Then the value of the partial derivative:
can be interpreted as the marginal (differential) resource return or, in other words, the marginal productivity coefficient, which shows how much the output will increase due to the increase in the cost of the resource with the number j by a “small” unit. The value of the marginal productivity of a resource can be interpreted as the upper limit of the price pj that a production facility can pay for an additional unit of the j-th resource so as not to be at a loss after its acquisition and use. In fact, the expected increase in production in this case will be:
and hence the ratio
will generate additional profit.
In the short run, when one resource is treated as fixed and the other as variable, most production functions have the property of diminishing marginal product. The marginal product of a variable resource is the increase in the total product due to the increase in the use of this variable resource per unit.
The marginal product of labor can be written as:
MPL = F(K,L+1) - F(K,L), where
MPL is the marginal product of labor.
The marginal product of capital can also be written as the difference:
MPK = F(K+1,L) - F(K,L),
Where MPK is the marginal product of capital.
A characteristic of a production facility is also the value of the average resource return (productivity of the production factor):
having a clear economic meaning of the quantity of output per unit of resource used (factor of production). The reciprocal of the resource return
usually called resource intensity, since it expresses the amount of resource j required to produce one unit of output in terms of value. Very common and understandable are terms such as capital intensity, material intensity, energy intensity, labor intensity, the growth of which is usually associated with a deterioration in the state of the economy, and their decline is regarded as a favorable result.
The quotient of dividing the differential productivity by the average:
is called the coefficient of elasticity of products according to production factor j and gives an expression for the relative increase in production (in percent) with a relative increase in the cost of the factor by 1%. If Ej ≤ 0, then there is an absolute decrease in output with an increase in the consumption of factor j; this situation may occur when technologically unsuitable products or modes are used. For example, excessive consumption of fuel will lead to an excessive increase in temperature and the chemical reaction necessary for the production of the product will not take place. If 0< Ej ≤ 1, то каждая последующая дополнительная единица затрачиваемого ресурса вызывает меньший дополнительный прирост продукции, чем предыдущая.
If Ej > 1, then the incremental (differential) productivity exceeds the average productivity. Thus, an additional unit of resource increases not only the volume of output, but also the average resource return characteristic. This is how the process of increasing the return on assets occurs when highly progressive, efficient machines and devices are put into operation. For a linear production function, the coefficient aj is numerically equal to the value of the differential productivity of the j-th factor, and for a power-law function, the exponent αj has the meaning of the elasticity coefficient for the j-th resource.
Characterizes the relationship between the amount of resources used () and the maximum possible output that can be achieved, provided that all available resources are used in the most rational way.
The production function has the following properties:
1. There is a limit to the increase in production that can be reached by increasing one resource and keeping other resources constant. If, for example, in agriculture increase the amount of labor with constant amounts of capital and land, then sooner or later there comes a point when output stops growing.
2. Resources complement each other, but within certain limits, their interchangeability is also possible without reducing output. Manual labor, for example, may be replaced by the use of more machines, and vice versa.
3. The longer the time period, the more resources can be reviewed. In this regard, there are instant, short and long periods. Instant period - the period when all resources are fixed. short period— the period when at least one resource is fixed. A long period - period when all resources are variable.
Usually in microeconomics, a two-factor production function is analyzed, reflecting the dependence of output (q) on the amount of labor () and capital () used. Recall that capital refers to the means of production, i.e. the number of machines and equipment used in production and measured in machine hours (topic 2, paragraph 2.2). In turn, the amount of labor is measured in man-hours.
As a rule, the considered production function looks like this:
A, α, β are given parameters. Parameter A is the coefficient of total factor productivity. It reflects the influence technical progress for production: if the manufacturer introduces advanced technologies, the value A increases, i.e. output increases with the same amount of labor and capital. Options α And β are the elasticity coefficients of output with respect to capital and labor, respectively. In other words, they show the percentage change in output when capital (labor) changes by one percent. These coefficients are positive, but less than unity. The latter means that with the growth of labor with constant capital (or capital with constant labor) by one percent, production increases to a lesser extent.
Building an isoquant
The given production function says that the producer can replace labor by captain and capital by labor, leaving the output unchanged. For example, in agriculture in developed countries, labor is highly mechanized, i.e. there are many machines (capital) for one worker. On the contrary, in developing countries the same output is achieved through a large amount of labor with little capital. This allows you to build an isoquant (Fig. 8.1).
isoquant(line of equal product) reflects all combinations of two factors of production (labor and capital), in which output remains unchanged. On fig. 8.1 next to the isoquant is the release corresponding to it. Thus, output , is achievable using labor and capital, or using labor and captain.
Rice. 8.1. isoquant
Other combinations of the amounts of labor and capital required to achieve a given output are also possible.
All combinations of resources corresponding to a given isoquant reflect technically efficient production methods. Mode of production A is technically efficient in comparison with the method IN, if it requires the use of at least one resource in a smaller amount, and all the others not in large quantities in comparison with the method IN. Accordingly, the method IN is technically inefficient compared to A. Technically not effective ways of production are not used by rational entrepreneurs and do not belong to the production function.
It follows from the above that an isoquant cannot have a positive slope, as shown in Fig. 8.2.
The segment marked with a dotted line reflects all technically inefficient methods of production. In particular, in comparison with the method A way IN to ensure the same output () requires the same amount of capital, but more labor. It is obvious, therefore, that the way B is not rational and cannot be taken into account.
Based on the isoquant, it is possible to determine the marginal rate of technical replacement.
Marginal Rate of Technical Replacement of Factor Y by Factor X (MRTS XY)- this is the amount of a factor (for example, capital), which can be abandoned when the factor (for example, labor) is increased by 1 unit so that the output does not change (we remain on the same isoquant).
Rice. 8.2. Technically efficient and inefficient production
Consequently, the marginal rate of technical replacement of capital by labor is calculated by the formula
With infinitesimal changes L And K she is
Thus, the marginal rate of technical replacement is the derivative of the isoquant function at a given point. Geometrically, it is the slope of the isoquant (Fig. 8.3).
Rice. 8.3. Marginal rate of technical replacement
When moving from top to bottom along the isoquant, the marginal rate of technical replacement decreases all the time, as evidenced by the decreasing slope of the isoquant.
If the producer increases both labor and capital, then this allows him to achieve a higher output, i.e. move to a higher isoquant (q 2). An isoquant located to the right and above the previous one corresponds to a larger output. The set of isoquants forms isoquant map(Fig. 8.4).
Rice. 8.4. Isoquant map
Special cases of isoquants
Recall that the given ones correspond to a production function of the form . But there are other production functions. Let us consider the case when there is a perfect substitution of factors of production. Let us assume, for example, that skilled and unskilled loaders can be used in warehouse work, and the productivity of a skilled loader in N times higher than the unskilled. This means that we can replace any number of qualified movers with unskilled ones in the ratio N to one. Conversely, one can replace N unskilled loaders with one qualified one.
In this case, the production function has the form: where is the number of skilled workers, is the number of unskilled workers, A And b- constant parameters reflecting the productivity of one skilled and one unskilled worker, respectively. Coefficient ratio a And b- the marginal rate of technical replacement of unskilled loaders by qualified ones. It is constant and equal N: MRTSxy= a/b = N.
Let, for example, a qualified loader be able to process 3 tons of cargo per unit time (this will be the coefficient a in the production function), and an unskilled one - only 1 ton (coefficient b). This means that the employer can refuse three unskilled loaders, additionally hiring one qualified loader, so that the output (total weight of the handled load) remains the same.
The isoquant in this case is linear (Fig. 8.5).
Rice. 8.5. Isoquant under perfect substitution of factors
The tangent of the slope of the isoquant is equal to the marginal rate of technical replacement of unskilled movers by qualified ones.
Another production function is the Leontief function. It assumes a rigid complementarity of factors of production. This means that the factors can only be used in a strictly defined proportion, the violation of which is technologically impossible. For example, an air flight can normally be operated with at least one aircraft and five crew members. At the same time, it is impossible to increase aircraft-hours (capital) while simultaneously reducing man-hours (labor), and vice versa, and to keep output unchanged. Isoquants in this case have the form of right angles, i.e. the marginal rates of technical replacement are zero (Fig. 8.6). At the same time, it is possible to increase output (the number of flights) by increasing both labor and capital in the same proportion. Graphically, this means moving to a higher isoquant.
Rice. 8.6. Isoquants in the case of rigid complementarity of factors of production
Analytically, such a production function has the form: q =min (aK; bL), Where A And b are constant coefficients reflecting the productivity of capital and labor, respectively. The ratio of these coefficients determines the proportion of the use of capital and labor.
In our flight example, the production function looks like this: q = min(1K; 0.2L). The fact is that the productivity of capital here is one flight for one plane, and the productivity of labor is one flight for five people, or 0.2 flights for one person. If an airline has a fleet of 10 aircraft and 40 flight personnel, then its maximum output will be: q = min( 1 x 8; 0.2 x 40) = 8 flights. At the same time, two aircraft will be idle on the ground due to a lack of personnel.
Let us finally look at the production function, which assumes the existence of a limited number of production technologies for the production of a given amount of output. Each of them corresponds to a certain state of labor and capital. As a result, we have a number of reference points in the “labor-capital” space, connecting which, we get a broken isoquant (Fig. 8.7).
Rice. 8.7. Broken isoquants in the presence of a limited number of production methods
The figure shows that the output in the volume q 1 can be obtained with four combinations of labor and capital corresponding to the points A, B, C And D. Intermediate combinations are also possible, achievable when an enterprise uses two technologies together to obtain a certain aggregate output. As always, by increasing the amount of labor and capital, we move to a higher isoquant.
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