In every this moment time, the total supply of a factor of production has a specific value that changes over time as a result of economic (growth in investment, etc.) and non-economic (drought, migration, etc.) reasons.
The volume of resource supply is determined by its mobility. Resource mobility is the ability of a factor of production to change the scope of its application. A resource is mobile if it moves easily to another industry. In this case, we talk about the elastic supply of this resource. The most mobile factor is "capital". The factor "land" is immobile in the physical sense, but mobile in the economic sense, since it can be used in various ways. The “labor” factor has a relatively high mobility. His mobility is influenced by economic factors and such non-economic factors as the type of work, the prestige of the profession, the workforce, the remoteness of work from the place of residence, etc.
The supply of immobile factors is inelastic. The level of mobility of a factor of production is affected not only by price, but also by the time factor: the longer the interval under consideration, the greater the mobility of factors.
Due to the mobility of economic factors, differences in resource prices lead to an equalization of the total benefits derived from the use of these factors in various fields production. All units of the mobile resource will be distributed among their users in such a way that the owners of the factors receive an equal overall benefit, regardless of the scope.
A transfer fee is a payment to the owner of a resource that keeps him from offering his services in a different, alternative place.
Economic rent is the payment that the owners of factors receive in addition to transfer fees.
The amount of money received by the owner of an economic resource as a transfer fee, for the firm - the employer of this resource, is represented by the cost of a lost opportunity. The economic rent received by the owner of the factor of production is the rent payment for the employing firm. More often, real payments for the use of factors of production are the sum of transfer fees and economic rents.
The distribution of the resource owner's income into transfer fees and economic rent depends on the mobility of resources. With high mobility of an economic resource, its supply is absolutely elastic (the resource supply curve is horizontal), and all owners of the resource receive only transfer remuneration. With low mobility of an economic resource, its supply is absolutely inelastic (the resource supply curve is vertical), the owners of the resource receive economic rent, and the transfer fee is zero.
Thus, economic rent is the difference between what the owner of a resource currently receives in a given field of activity and what he can receive by offering the resource elsewhere.
So far, the features of the formation of demand for economic resources have been considered. However, the market for factors of production, like any other market, is characterized not only by the demand side, but also by the supply side. It's about the offer economic resources, its general features will be discussed below.
Supply of factors of production- their number, which can be represented in the resource market at each given price value. In factor markets, the demand for economic resources generates their supply in the same way that the demand for goods and services generates their supply in commodity markets. However, factor markets have significant differences from the markets for goods and services, which is largely due to the specifics of the supply of each specific factor of production.
Analyzing the situation in the factor markets, we can state that the general features of the supply of economic resources stem from the postulate of the rarity and limitedness of the factors of production involved by a person in economic activity, both primary (land, capital, labor, entrepreneurial ability) and derivatives from them. production factors.
The supply schedule of an economic resource will have a positive slope. The main factor determining the volume of supply of a resource is its price, which for the owner of an economic resource will reflect the amount of income on his production factors. Consequently, an increase in prices for an economic resource (with rare exceptions) will cause an expansion in the volume of its supply. However, the market supply curve for any rare and scarce resource S R is likely to gradually increase at first, and then the steepness of its rise will increase. Let's explain. Suppose the use of some rare natural resource will require, due to the growing volumes of production finished products, attracting more and more of this resource. As production volumes grow, production costs usually grow, because from some point in time, the expansion of output will lead to the need to use less and less productive units of this resource, up to its full use in the country (now the possibility of expanding the supply of resources due to their imports from abroad);
The steepness of the slope of the graph of the market supply of a limited resource to the x-axis will increase as we move towards the border of the full use of the factor. And this is largely due to the law of rarity, limited resources.
Another feature of the supply in factor markets is related to the fact that the supply of each specific factor of production has a different degree of elasticity (indeed, the market supply schedule in the figure below has a different degree of elasticity in its different segments), which is primarily due to the law of scarcity and limitation resources, as well as some other reasons. Let's take an example to illustrate. The supply of land at any given moment of time is absolutely inelastic due to the absolute limitation of this factor of production - its size at any given moment of time is fixed. On the other hand, there is no economic resource alternative to land. If we talk about non-renewable minerals used by man as raw materials, then their supply will be more elastic due to the existence of alternative - interchangeable or artificially created - types of raw materials and materials.
Among other other factors influencing the degree of elasticity of the supply of economic resources, it is worth highlighting their mobility. Mobility of factors of production- their ability to change the scope of their application. The mobility of economic resources largely determines the features of the distribution of factors of production between industries and firms. A factor of production will be mobile if it easily moves from one area of use to another under the influence of any motives. A factor of production will be classified as non-mobile if, under the influence of very significant motives (and the main one is the opportunity to get more high income on a given economic resource) it cannot be moved and redistributed between industries and firms. The supply of highly mobile factors of production is more elastic than the supply of services of non-mobile factors.
The mobility of factors of production is related to the factor of times and. In the long run, a factor that does not have the ability to move for short time intervals can acquire mobility. Suppose, in the short run, the mobility of such a factor of production as capital (machines, equipment, buildings, oriented, as a rule, to the production of specific products) is completely insignificant. But in the long run, when there is at least the possibility of changing production to the production of other products, the mobility of capital is very high, which can cause significant spillovers from one area to another and increase the degree of elasticity of its supply.
The degree of elasticity of the supply of a factor of production determines the shape of its supply schedule. The supply curve for factors of production can be ascending, vertical, or even descending.
For most economic resources in long term supply is directly dependent on factor prices, in which case the supply curve will have a positive slope - as shown in the area below point A in the figure. And now about special occasions. The supply of land, due to the absolute scarcity of this resource and the absence of alternative factors of production, is usually considered price-independent (PR) (in this case, the supply of land will be completely inelastic), so the supply curve of this factor is vertical, as in the section from point A to point B. In special cases, when income from a certain factor of production is growing, its owners can reduce the supply of this factor in the resource market. This situation can be observed in the labor market. For example, if people believe that they can afford to work less with enough high level wages, the labor supply curve may instead of increasing become decreasing - the supply curve can bend to the left, as it happens above point B.
The market for each specific factor of production is usually represented by many segments, each of which will be characterized by its own characteristics in the survey and supply, which, in turn, will generate a difference in prices even for the same resource. Conventionally, these differences in resource prices can be divided into two groups - dynamic (or non-equilibrium) and equilibrium. Dynamic differences in resource prices take place when individual industries that were previously in a state of equilibrium come out of a non-equilibrium state, starting to expand sharply, while other industries, on the contrary, are narrowing. In expanding industries emerging? increased demand for this species resource, while in shrinking industries it will fall. Naturally, this will affect resource prices. In the first case, they will increase, in the second, they will fall. This, in turn, will cause an overflow of economic resources from shrinking industries to expanding ones. It is clear that the supply of economic resources for expanding industries will also grow, while for shrinking industries it will fall. The spillover process will eventually equalize prices. Thus, dynamic differences in resource prices are temporary and usually disappear in the long run when industries re-equilibrate. The duration of the price equalization process depends on the mobility of production factors.
Equilibrium differences in resource prices occur when industries are in equilibrium. In general, there are several reasons for such differences. First, these are internal differences inherent in different units of a given resource. From general considerations, it is clear that rarer and more productive units of a given resource will have a higher P R . . It is for this reason that talented workers or representatives of rare professions have higher earnings. Another reason is the difference in costs arising from the attraction of more productive units of a given resource. Naturally, if certain funds were spent on training a more productive resource (for example, a highly qualified specialist), then the unit price of such a resource will exceed the price of a less productive factor. And another reason is the presence of non-monetary benefits received by the owner of resources from their use. Suppose a certain specialist (the owner of labor as a factor of production) tries to realize his own capabilities and abilities outside the framework of his specialty, agreeing to a less paid job, which seems to him more interesting than the previous one. The main incentive here is not monetary benefits while searching for yourself. Sometimes workers prefer less paid jobs that provide them with benefits and benefits that are not measurable in money - proximity to home, for example, or having kindergarten nearby, etc. Equilibrium differences in the prices of economic resources are not eliminated by the movement of resources from one sphere of application to another and can persist over a long period.
Mobility or mobility labor resources- a kind of symbol of our time. Modern man during his working life, not only can, but often is forced to change several professions and places of work, and organizations have to constantly update the profile of their core activities and staff composition. The category of "labor mobility" includes three groups of processes that characterize the characteristics of the labor behavior of personnel and personnel policy organizations in the era post-industrial society. These include: 1) changing specialties and mastering related professions; 2) combination of work; 3) free movement of labor resources.
- 1. Constant updating of the content and types of labor requires workers not only to improve their skills, but often specialization changes which encourages them to take on new jobs. This is due to the withering away of old and the emergence of new types of jobs. In addition, the internal logic of specialist development is also changing. Previously, his professional path consisted, as a rule, of gradual capacity building and improvement of skills in one field of activity. Now key point in the successful development of a career, there is a steady expansion of the range of professional competencies that are initially included in the structure different types labor. This ensures the progressive advancement of the employee not only “up” the career ladder, but also “in breadth”, making each labor post multifunctional, and a set of professional roles relatively independent of the conjuncture that develops in the organization.
- 2. Mastering various professional competencies gives a specialist the opportunity combine work associated with the performance of various labor tasks both within one organization and with going beyond it. Design Forms the jobs that are typical of most modern organizations stimulate such processes. The mass nature of this phenomenon led to the creation a large number legal and normative documents, in legislative order regulating relations between an employee and an employer in terms of "permanent" and "temporary work", " individual contracts”, “Regulations on temporary work teams”, etc. Distinctive feature post-industrial society lies in the fact that different forms of combining work, if they did not begin to dominate, then, according to at least, have become common among the privileged classes of the "professional elite" or among highly qualified specialists (scientists, engineers, teachers, programmers), and not only among low-skilled workers, as it was before.
- 3. The expansion of the "post-industrial space" opens the borders for free movement of labor resources. In terms of macroeconomic shifts, this is evidenced by the intensification of migration flows between highly and underdeveloped countries that have not only territorial proximity, but also well-established economic, cultural and historical ties. One of the important consequences of this process is the increased staff mobility organizations, especially when they have an extensive network of territorial and national representations. Constant moving or "life on wheels" has become a typical attribute of the work of managers in large organizations. To improve their skills and obtain certificates confirming the quality of professional training, many specialists additionally undergo training at prestigious universities around the world, train in well-known firms and companies. This has already become a necessary condition for obtaining a “good” job and, no less important, a powerful incentive for further professional growth. As a result of this “geographical mobility” strengthening, there is a direct contact national characteristics and organizational traditions, which forms a new humanitarian culture of the post-industrial society.
An important psychological consequence of the mobility of labor resources is a change in the motivational attitudes of the staff in relation to the constancy of the place of work. job change, those. moving from one organization to another is now seen as an important component of professional career development. When applying for a job, a specialist must indicate in which organizations he has already worked and how successfully. The presence of such a "track record" is welcomed by the management and is interpreted as the degree of validity of a person's claims to receive a prestigious and highly paid position. As a result, there are significant changes in the content of such a complex motivational construct as a "psychological contract", which informally reflects the mutual expectations and obligations of the employee and the employer. The degree of optimality of the psychological contract in modern conditions most often interpreted in terms of "partnership" rather than "family ties" or "marriage for love", as was the case in traditional organizations. This shift in emphasis makes a person relatively independent of a particular duty station, and forces the organization to look for new means and methods of interaction with staff in order to make work attractive for its employees.
11.1. Supply of economic resources
In the market of production factors (resource market), the roles of firms and households change in principle: households offer the resources at their disposal (labor, land, capital), and firms demand production factors.
Resource market research is important for a number of reasons. First, it is in this market that money income population of the country: by offering firms the resources at their disposal, households are rewarded in the form of wages, profits, interest and rent. Consequently, prices in the market of factors of production will determine in the future the income of the population and, ultimately, the state of the market for goods and services. Secondly, factor prices show how limited resources are distributed in a country, which allows them to be used in the most efficient way. Thirdly, for the firm, the purchase of resources is a cost of production. Maximizing profits, the firm will always seek to reduce costs per unit of output. Accordingly, resource prices will determine in what combination factors will be used in the production of a given type of goods and services. Finally, fourthly, resource market prices, primarily wages, income distribution issues are the object of political struggle and are always at the center of public opinion.
At any moment in time in any country, the total supply of any factor of production - labor, land, capital - has a very specific value. Indeed, the number of employees, the area of cultivated land, the volume of capital resources in Russia, let's say, in the first half of 1999, can be expressed in exact figures. However, over time, these volumes can change significantly due to both economic and non-economic factors. For example, economic recovery economic factor) causes an increase in investment and an increase in the supply of capital, while drought (a non-economic factor) leads to a reduction in the supply of grain, etc. Our goal is to find out how economic factors affect the supply of resources for a particular industry and firm.
Resource mobility. Big influence the supply of resources is influenced by their mobility, which is understood as the ability of a factor of production to change the scope of its application. The resource that, under the influence of any incentives, easily moves from one area of application to another, is considered mobile. If the resource does not move even if there are serious motives, then it is considered to be non-mobile. The movement of resources can have a significant impact on their supply to the firm and industry: factors of production that are highly mobile have an elastic supply, i.e. their QS changes significantly with a small change in the price of the resource, so the supply of non-mobile factors is inelastic.
The mobility of resources is influenced by the time factor: the longer the interval under consideration, the greater the mobility of economic resources. For example, capital in short periods of time is usually immobile: machines, equipment, buildings are used, as a rule, for the production of a specific type of goods and services, and in a short period of time it is difficult to reconfigure them for the production of other products. In contrast, over long periods of time, capital mobility is very high, and economic reasons capable of causing significant movements of capital from one area to another.
As for the land, it has a high mobility in economic terms: the same plot of land can be used for growing potatoes, and on next year- cabbages, etc. It can be sold for development. However, a built-up piece of land is already less mobile: if a shop is built on it, and someone wants to build a hotel on this site, then the price of this piece of land will be so significant that it will cover the cost of demolishing the shop (otherwise, it’s easier to put the hotel in another place) . Such costs for the purchase of land naturally reduce its mobility.
A feature of labor is that its supply is actually always associated with the need for the physical presence of the owner of this resource - the worker - at the place of application of their production functions. For land and capital, this is not necessary: the owner of land or capital may be thousands of miles from the factor of production itself, but receive income for its use by other people. The mobility of labor resources is largely influenced by non-economic factors: the type of work, the prestige of the profession, the team of colleagues, remoteness from the place of residence, housing problems, etc. Undoubtedly, wages (resource price) are also of great importance for the movement of personnel. Other reasons also serve as a deterrent to expanding the supply of specialists in a particular profession: the lack of abilities for this profession in some people, the need for training, etc. For example, it is difficult for a qualified engineer of 45 years old to retrain as an accountant and it is completely impossible to become a professional athlete. However, young people can do both. A year usually changes 3-4% of the country's total labor resources: a certain amount retires, young workers come. In a short period of time, 10-15 years, society is able to almost completely reshape the composition of the labor force. Accordingly, the total labor resources are more mobile than an individual.
Resource price differences. Since the mobility of factors of production is influenced by resource prices, the question arises: what influences these prices and leads to their difference? If all units of any resource were identical, and their mobility was determined only by economic reasons, then the prices of such units of a resource would not differ from each other in any field of application. Indeed, when workers have the same qualifications and more than high salary, this will cause the labor supply of workers to expand by this production and lower the wage level (the price of the resource) to the average level established throughout the economy. The transfer of identical resources from one sector of the economy to another will continue as long as there are incentives for such a movement - a difference in resource prices - and will stop when prices equalize.
However, in real life there are differences in resource prices. Conventionally, they can be divided into two groups: dynamic (or non-equilibrium) and equilibrium. Dynamic differences in resource prices are observed when certain industries begin to expand sharply, while others begin to contract. For example, a reduction in military orders leads to a drop in the demand of the military industries both for a number of strategic resources (copper, nickel, etc.) and for specialists in the relevant professions, which causes a decrease in their relative prices and wages. On the other hand, there is an intensive growth in the production of products household appliances, which increases the demand of these industries for economic resources and induces a relative increase in their prices. Dynamic differences in resource prices are not so durable and disappear when industries reach equilibrium again. How long the process of price equalization will take depends on the mobility of factors, i.e. because how quickly economic resources can move from one industry to another.
Equilibrium differences in resource prices, as the name suggests, occur even when industries are in equilibrium. There are three types of such differences due to certain reasons:
a) internal differences inherent in the units of resources themselves;
b) differences in costs associated with the acquisition of more productive units of the resource;
c) differences caused by non-monetary advantages in the use of resources.
Each of us is constantly confronted with equilibrium differences, since people have different propensities for professions, and a more talented, more skilled worker always gets more than the rest (the first reason). It is quite natural that if certain funds are spent on the preparation of a productive resource (for example, reclaimed land), then the price of a unit of such a resource will exceed the price of a less productive factor (the second reason). As for non-monetary advantages, we also quite often encounter similar facts: sometimes people go to a less paid job that suits them for other, non-monetary reasons: proximity to home, the presence of a kindergarten, the opportunity to relax at a convenient time, etc. Equilibrium differences in payments for factors of production are not eliminated by the movement of resources and can persist over the long run.
The principle of maximizing the overall benefit. The fact that dynamic differences in resource prices can be eliminated, while equilibrium differences can exist for a long time, allows us to formulate the so-called principle of maximizing the common benefit. According to this principle, the owners of factors of production choose such a way of using their resources that provides them with the maximum overall benefit. General benefit refers to both monetary and non-monetary rewards and benefits. The principle of maximizing the total benefit is more often interpreted as the principle of equal total benefit, which can be formulated in the following way: due to the mobility of economic factors, the elimination of dynamic differences in resource prices leads to an equalization of the total benefits derived from the use of these factors in various areas of production. In other words, all units of any resource will be distributed among their users in such a way that the owners of the factors of production receive an equal total benefit, regardless of the scope of the resources. The principle of maximizing the overall benefit is universal and plays the same role in the theory of income distribution that the principle of profit maximization has in the theory of production of goods and services.
Although non-monetary goods have a significant impact on the prices of resources, primarily labor, they are not subject to significant changes over time. In this regard, the share of non-monetary benefits in the total benefit can be considered stable. Then the main reason for the change in total benefit is cash reward received by the owners of economic resources; this remuneration is influenced by the state of the market for factors of production. The owner of any economic resource will seek to expand the offer of his services in those industries where the payment per unit of resource is higher, since there he will receive a higher profit.
So, the amount of a resource that its owner will offer in the market for factors of production (QS of the resource) is determined by the total benefit received by the owner of the resource as a result of the use of resources in the production process. The total benefit, in turn, depends on the price of the resource, therefore, we can find the dependence of QS of the resource on its price, i.e. determine the supply of the resource and plot its supply curve. Since an increase in the price of a factor of production leads to an increase in QS, the resource supply curve has the “upward” shape we are familiar with. Note that changes in other factors that affect the QS of the resource (skills, non-monetary benefits, costs of improving the quality of the resource) affect the supply of the resource as a whole and lead to shifts in its supply curve.
(Materials are given on the basis of: V.F. Maksimova, L.V. Goryainova. Microeconomics. Educational and methodological complex. - M.: Publishing Center of the EAOI, 2008. ISBN 978-5-374-00064-1)
The supply of resources is strongly influenced by mobility, which is understood as the ability of a factor of production to change the scope of its application. The resource that, under the influence of some incentives, easily moves from one area of application to another, is considered mobile. If the resource is not subject to change in the place of use even under the influence of serious motives, then it is considered to be non-mobile. The movement of resources can have a significant impact on their supply to the firm and industry: factors of production that are highly mobile have an elastic supply, i.e. their QS changes significantly with a small change in the price of the resource, so the supply of non-mobile factors is inelastic.
The mobility of resources is influenced by the time factor: the longer the considered time interval, the greater the mobility of economic resources. For example, capital in short periods, it is usually immobile: machines, equipment, buildings are used, as a rule, for the production of a specific type of goods and services, and in a short period of time it is difficult to reconfigure them for the production of other products. However, over long periods of time, capital mobility is very high, and economic reasons can cause significant movements of capital from one area to another.
Concerning land, then, despite its complete non-mobility in the physical sense, it has high mobility in economic terms: the same piece of land can be used in the current season for growing potatoes, and next year - cabbage, etc. It can be sold for buildings. However, a built-up piece of land is already less mobile: if a shop is built on it, and someone wants to build a hotel on this site, then the price of this piece of land will be so significant that it will cover the cost of demolishing the shop (otherwise, it’s easier to put the hotel in another place) . Such costs for the purchase of land naturally reduce its mobility. Since plots of land cannot be physically moved from one place to another, its location plays a decisive role in the price of land - plots of land in the city center are, as a rule, much more expensive than on the outskirts.
feature labor is that his proposal is actually always associated with the need for the physical presence of the owner of this resource - the worker at the place of application of his production functions. For land and capital, this is not necessary - the owner of land or capital may be thousands of kilometers from the factor of production itself, but receive income for its use by other people. Therefore, the mobility of labor resources is largely influenced by non-economic factors: the type of work, the prestige of the profession, the team of colleagues, remoteness from the place of residence, housing problems, etc. But, undoubtedly, wage(economic factor) is also of great importance for the movement of personnel.
Other reasons serve as a deterrent to expanding the supply of specialists in a particular profession - the lack of abilities for this profession in some people, the need for training, etc. sportsman. However, young people can do both. A year usually changes 3-4% of the country's total labor resources: a certain amount retires, young workers come. In a short period of time, 10-15 years, society is able to almost completely reshape the composition of the labor force. Accordingly, the total labor resources are more mobile than an individual.
