Q.What are the characteristics of Land ?

Land is nature's free gift with a fixed, immobile supply; it is a primary, passive factor of permanent but varying fertility, and is subject to diminishing returns.

In the Tamil Nadu HSC Class-11 Economics syllabus, land includes all natural resources — soil, water, minerals, forests and climate. Its characteristics are:

• Free gift of nature — land is supplied by nature at no cost of production; human effort did not create it.
• Fixed / inelastic supply — the total quantity of land is fixed; its supply cannot be increased or decreased, so its supply is perfectly inelastic for the economy as a whole.
• Immobile — land cannot be shifted physically from one place to another (geographical immobility), though it has some occupational mobility (can be put to different uses).
• Primary and passive factor — land itself produces nothing until labour and capital are applied to it; it is a passive factor of production.
• Differences in fertility — all pieces of land are not equally productive; fertility and situation vary, which gives rise to rent. …