Q1. What are the four main factors of production?
Answer: Land, labour, capital, and entrepreneurship.
Q2. What does “land” include in economics?
Answer: All natural resources like soil, water, forests, minerals, oil, and natural gas.
Q3. How is land usually obtained for production?
Answer: By buying it or paying rent to use it for a period.
Q4. What is “labour” in production?
Answer: The physical and mental effort people use to produce goods and services.
Q5. Give two examples of labour in different occupations.
Answer: A carpenter’s physical work and a teacher’s mental work.
Q6. What is “human capital”?
Answer: The skills, knowledge, abilities, and expertise that make labour more effective.
Q7. How is human capital different from labour?
Answer: Labour is effort; human capital is the quality (skills/knowledge) that increases productivity.
Q8. Name two facilitators of human capital.
Answer: Education/training and healthcare.
Q9. How does education help human capital?
Answer: It provides knowledge and prepares people to solve real-world problems.
Q10. How does good health support productivity?
Answer: It enables faster work, creativity, and fewer absences due to illness.
Q11. Name one cultural trait from Japan or Germany that supports productivity.
Answer: Japan’s kaizen (continuous improvement) or Germany’s punctuality and quality focus.
Q12. Mention one demographic advantage India has for human capital.
Answer: A young population with 65% under 35 (demographic dividend).
Q13. What is needed to benefit from the demographic dividend?
Answer: Quality education, health, training, and skills.
Q14. What do the Shilpa Shastras provide?
Answer: Detailed design guidelines for crafts, sculpture, architecture, and proportions.
Q15. What was unique about ancient Indian stitched shipbuilding?
Answer: Wooden planks were stitched with cords, making flexible ships for rough seas.
Q16. What does “capital” include?
Answer: Money and durable assets like machinery, tools, vehicles, shops, and factories.
Q17. Name two common ways small businesses raise capital.
Answer: Personal savings/family help and bank loans.
Q18. How do large companies raise capital?
Answer: By selling shares in the stock market and paying dividends.
Q19. What is entrepreneurship?
Answer: Identifying a problem/idea, combining factors, taking risks, and creating value.
Q20. Name two roles an entrepreneur performs.
Answer: Makes key business decisions and organizes land, labour, and capital.
Q21. Name one contribution of J.R.D. Tata.
Answer: Founded India’s first airline (Tata Airlines, 1932) and led the Tata Group’s expansion.
Q22. What is technology in production?
Answer: Application of scientific knowledge to make production easier, faster, or better.
Q23. Give two examples of modern technology enabling production or access.
Answer: UPI for payments and SWAYAM MOOCs for free online courses.
Q24. What does the National Career Service (NCS) do?
Answer: Connects people to jobs across sectors via a government portal.
Q25. What is the difference between labour-intensive and capital-intensive production?
Answer: Labour-intensive uses more human labour (e.g., agriculture); capital-intensive uses more machinery (e.g., semiconductors).
Q26. How are the factors of production connected?
Answer: They complement each other; lacking or misusing one reduces efficiency or halts production.
Q27. Give one recent example of supply chain risk mentioned in the chapter.
Answer: COVID-19 disruptions from relying on distant sources.
Q28. What responsibilities do businesses have toward natural resources and workers?
Answer: Use resources sustainably, reduce pollution, ensure fair pay and safe conditions, and invest in training.
Q29. What does India’s CSR law (2014) require?
Answer: Eligible companies invest 2% of their average profits over the past three years in social initiatives.
Q30. Why is technology considered the “fifth factor” of production in this chapter?
Answer: It improves efficiency, connects other factors, and enables higher productivity with the same or fewer resources.