Land (economics) - Definition and Overview

In economics, land comprises all naturally occurring resources, such as geographical locations, mineral deposits, and even portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. In classical economics it is considered one of three factors of production, the other two being capital and labor.

Because land is not produced, the market for land responds differently to taxation from the market for labor and produced goods. An ideally implemented land value tax would not affect the opportunity cost of using land, but would instead decrease the value of legal land ownership (see Georgism).

Land, particularly geographic locations and mineral desposits, has historically been the cause of much conflict and dispute; land reform programmes, which are designed to redistribute geographic land, are often the cause of much controversy and mineral deposits have contributed to many civil wars, particularly in Africa.