Economic versus biological resources

In economics a resource is defined as a commodity, service, or other asset used to produce goods and services that meet human needs and wants (see economic resource). Economics itself has been defined as the study of how society manages its scarce resources.Economics focuses on resource supply and demand as it influences production of goods and services to meet human needs and wants. Classical economics recognizes three categories of resources: land, labor, and capital.Together with entrepreneurship, land, labor, and capital]omics. Land includes all natural resources and is viewed as both the site of production and the source of raw materials. Labor or human resources consists of human effort provided in the creation of products, paid in wage. Capital consists of human-made goods or means of production (machinery, buildings, and other infrastructure) used in the production of other goods and services, paid in interest. Entrepreneurs serve as managers, risk-takers, leaders, and visionaries.


In biology and ecology a resource is defined as a substance or object required by a living organism for normal growth, maintenance, and reproduction (see biological resource). Resources, such as food, water, or nesting sites, can be consumed by an organism and, as a result, become unavailable to other organisms. For animals key resources include food, water, and territory. For plants key resources include sunshine, nutrients, water, and a place to grow.
There are three fundamental differences between economic versus ecological views: 1) the economic resource definition is human-centered (anthropocentric) and the ecological resource definition is nature-centered (biocentric or ecocentric); 2) the economic view includes desire along with necessity, whereas the biological view is about basic biological needs; and 3) economic systems are based on markets of currency exchanged for goods and services, whereas biological systems are based on natural processes of growth, maintenance, and reproduction.