factor of production

American  

noun

1. any instrument, agent, etc., employed in the production of goods and services.

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factor of production British  

noun

1. Also called: agent of production.  a resource or input entering the production of wealth, such as land, labour, capital, etc

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Example Sentences

“Now, economists should recognize that there is a fourth factor of production: Data.”

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

“Their labor is a crucial factor of production, and it’s that production that generates other jobs in the sector. That’s something I wish everyone understood.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2025

"We will improve the governance of the digital economy and unleash the potential of data as a factor of production, to further stimulate economic development and enrich people's lives," said Li.

From Reuters • Mar. 5, 2022

The problem is that the redistribution of income that invariably accompanies the opening of international markets favors the factor of production in the country which has a relative abundance in that factor.

From New York Times • Apr. 15, 2016

Let us forget for the present the philanthropic side of the industrial work, and look on it as a distinctly economic enterprise, as a factor of production.

From The Social Work of the Salvation Army by Lamb, Edwin Gifford