Is a cow considered a natural resource? 10 pts best answer! =)?

Question

For my economics class, we are talking about the four main factors of production: natural resources (things that come from nature), human resources (physical labor), capital resources (tools used to produce goods/services), and entrepreneurship (intelligence, the imagination, and the ability to take risks in order to start a business)

It seems that it IS a natural resource, since it clearly doesn't fall into any of the other categories....what do you think?

Answer 1

you could make an argument that a cow is more capital resource, in terms of economic analysis.   When people make up models, such as this model of the factors of production, they need to keep the factors and components as simple as possible, in hopes that the model will not become so complex as to be unwieldy when you try to use it.

If you decide that farm animals are something other than the four factors described, you start down a path that will lead to an exponential expansion of the four factors, into hundreds perhaps.  The model loses its utility in the process.

So to decide if a cow is a natural resource, a capital resource or something closer to a physical laborer, you have to look for where in the model the particular characteristics with which you are concerned begin to affect the model in a negative way.

For example, if the model includes a series of assumptions about natural resources that you can see are not accurate when considering the specifics of cows, you might be tempted to include them as capital resources instead.  after all, within some practical limits, you can order up as many cows as you need to run your farm/factory at the level of production you are looking for, assuming the zoning laws permit it.

I think you plug cows into models as either a natural resource or a capital resource depending on what the model is trying to predict and how the particular characteristics of cows best fit that model

Answer 2

i would have to agree....never really thought about it before.  cows are a renewable natural resource.  along with other animals..chickens, farm raised fish, pigs etc

Answer 3

A HOLY GIFT FROM MOTHER NATURE

Answer 4

...well, lets see...  was the "Cow" born on the Planet Earth ?  If the answer is "yes"...then the Cow is a natural resource.  Now, if the Cow came from Mars or Demos or Phobos, or was the "Cow that jumped over the Moon", well then it wouldn't be a "natural" earthly entity.  (did that help)?

Answer 5

Farmers do not consider cows like natural resources. If they use it for provide meat is a resources of production (primary resource) and if they use it to obtain milk then those are capital resources.

Natural resources are attained to a form of expense like the depreciation or losing in value. Example: the land lose value and suffer a reduction in productivity when is exposed to many harvests, the water can suffer a reduction in effectiveness by contamination, etc.

Answer 6

Most definatly. Look at it this way Cattel is defintatly part of the factors of production, and it dose not fall under the other two (i.e. Physical labour, Enterprenuership) some might calss it under capital resources but i guess that depends on whethere you hunt them or you buy them.