Explain five characteristics of labour as a factor of production

PREVIOUSLY: OUTLINE FOUR CHARACTERISTICS OF FREE RESOURCES.

EXPLAIN FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF LABOUR AS A FACTOR OF PRODUCTION

1. ​It is a basic factor of production

Alongside land and Capital, Labour is a primary factor in the cycle of production. Without labour, there will be no production

2. It cannot be stored if a labourer is idle- his/her effort is wasted i.e. labour is perishable

​Labour is more perishable than other factors of production. It means labour cannot be stored. The labour of an unemployed worker is lost forever for that day when he does not work.

3. Labour can not be separated from the labourer. That is the Labourer must be present to deliver services.

​Labour and labourer are indispensable for each other. For example—It is not possible to bring the ability of a teacher to teach in the school, leaving the teacher at home.

4. Labourer sells their labour and not themselves.

​Wage labour is the mode of production in which the labourer sells their capacity to work as a commodity. The capitalist who buys the labour power, and pays for it at its value, own the labour process and the product of labour, and can sell the product in order to realise a profit.

5. If it is human wish ability to think and capacity to get annoyed.

Labour is dependent on skills, experience, emotions and character. It's not easy to attain consistency in labour and always vary from one person to another.

6. Labour is mobile, that is labour can move from place to place

Labour mobility consists of changes in the location of workers both across physical space (geographic mobility) and across a set of jobs (occupational mobility).