Production factors and changing sectors
| English | 中文 | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| capital/ˈkæpɪtl/ | 资本要素 | zī běn yào sù |
| tertiary sector/ˈtɜːʃjəri ˈsektə/ | 第三产业 | dì sān chǎn yè |
A decision you can investigate
- A timber business harvests wood, a workshop makes desks, and a courier delivers them.
- The linked production chain contains three different types of activity.
Build the explanation
- Land includes natural resources; labour is human effort; capital 资本要素 is produced equipment used in production; enterprise organizes resources and bears business risk. Money can finance capital, but a banknote is not itself a machine.
- The primary sector extracts or grows natural resources, the secondary sector manufactures or constructs, and the tertiary sector 第三产业 supplies services. Agricultural productivity can release workers; rising incomes can increase demand for manufactured goods and services. Urbanization and technology also change sector employment and output shares.
Work through the evidence
- Harvesting timber is primary, making desks secondary, and courier delivery tertiary. The forest is land, a carpenter labour, a saw capital, and the owner’s organization/risk-taking enterprise.
- Manufacturing employment rises from 100 to 110 workers while total employment rises from 200 to 250. Its share falls from 100/200 × 100 = 50% to 110/250 × 100 = 44%, despite more manufacturing workers.
Which is capital in the desk workshop?
The produced saw is equipment; forest is land and effort is labour.
Test the limits
- A falling share does not necessarily mean falling absolute output or employment. Employment shares and output shares can differ because sectors have different productivity.
- Countries do not follow one guaranteed path. A resource-rich or service-specialist economy can differ from the simplified primary-to-secondary-to-tertiary pattern.
What is the later manufacturing employment share?
Share = 110/250 × 100 = 44%.
A smaller manufacturing employment share proves manufacturing employment fell.
In the case employment rises, but the total rises faster.
Apply and explain your answer
- How can manufacturing employment rise while its employment share falls?
- Total employment can grow faster than manufacturing employment.
Which activity is secondary?
Transforming material into a manufactured product is secondary activity.
Use the terms precisely
- capital: Produced equipment and structures used to make goods or services.
- tertiary sector: Economic activities providing services.
Match the terms to their meanings.
Each term describes a specific mechanism in this lesson.
Harvesting timber is primary, making desks secondary, and courier delivery tertiary. The forest is land, a carpenter labour, a saw capital, and the owner’s organization/risk-taking enterprise. Manufacturing employment rises from 100 to 110 workers while total employment rises from 200 to 250. Its share falls from 100/200 × 100 = 50% to 110/250 × 100 = 44%, despite more manufacturing workers.
A falling share does not necessarily mean falling absolute output or employment. Employment shares and output shares can differ because sectors have different productivity. Countries do not follow one guaranteed path. A resource-rich or service-specialist economy can differ from the simplified primary-to-secondary-to-tertiary pattern.
Land includes natural resources; labour is human effort; capital is produced equipment used in production; enterprise organizes resources and bears business risk. Money can finance capital, but a banknote is not itself a machine.