Land economy
Introduction
Land, in economics, is the concept that encompasses all natural resources whose supply is inherently fixed (that is, does not change in response to variations in their prices in the market).
This set includes lands themselves, defined by their geographical location on the earth's surface (a concept that excludes improvements due to infrastructure and natural capital, which can be degraded by human actions - biogeographic factors, such as soil, climate, hydrology, etc.), subsoil mineral deposits, and even locations in geostationary orbit and a part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
In classical economics, land is considered one of the three factors of production, the others being capital "Capital (economy)") and labor "Labor (economy)"); The remuneration derived from the ownership or control of land (or the natural resources included therein) is usually called rent or land rent.
The land, particularly mining deposits and fields "Country (agriculture)") or geographical locations of special value for agricultural use (cropland), livestock or forestry (the primary sector that mainly identifies the rural landscape); It has historically been the cause of all types of social, political and war conflicts.
Earth factor
The land factor (increasingly altered by human intervention) is today considered either as a component of capital "Capital (economy)") or as a component of a broader natural factor (natural resources or natural capital).
The land, in the economic sense of the term, is not a product of human labor, but only of the forces of nature. The Georgists maintain that this implies a perfect inelastic demand curve (zero elasticity "Elasticity (economics)"), suggesting that a tax on agricultural property that recovers land rent for public benefit would not affect the opportunity cost of using the land, but would only decrease the value of its possession. This point of view is supported by the evidence that although land can enter and exit the market, the availability of land in the market shows no relationship with its price, or if anything, shows an inverse relationship (negative elasticity). Although land (especially in the form of mineral deposits) must first be discovered in order to have value or be put to use, it is generally considered that the fruits of scientific discoveries, whether natural laws or mineral deposits, cannot fairly be monopolized for the benefit of private revenues.