There are such ways of development of society as extensive and intense.
In the first type of development, growth is achieved due to a quantitative increase in production factors on the existing technical basis. For example, if there is a need to increase production, this is ensured by the commissioning of new enterprises of a similar, existing capacity, with equipment of the same quality, an equal number of employees and their skill level. Such development is proceeding at a slow pace and it cannot last forever because resources are depleted over time. One day inevitably have to move to a new level.
The intensive path of development is the opposite direction. This way involves increasing the scale of production by improving the quality of its factors and introducing more economical natural resources, improving the skills of workers, introducing new technologies, and improving the organization of production. Thanks to all this, the return on all resources involved in production increases.
With this approach, to increase the output of products do not resort to the construction of additional enterprises. The results are achieved through reconstruction, modernization, re-equipment of existing and improving ways to use the resources at the disposal of the enterprise.
In life, an extensive and intensive path of development in its pure form is practically not observed. As a rule, they are combined in certain proportions and combinations. Therefore, it is said that a society or production develops mainly in an intensive or extensive way.
Economic development is determined by a number of factors. They can be divided into several groups:
- Natural resources. Some countries possess them to a greater extent (USA, China, Russia, etc.), others to a lesser extent;
- capital (volume of investments in the economy);
- advantageous geographical position (helps to extract income from the need for other countries to transport goods on its territory);
- human resources, which are characterized by a certain level of education, health and hard work;
- the level of development of technology and science, which helps to accelerate the development of the economy.
The intensive path of development today is directly related to the use of computer, computer technology, high automation of production. All this allows to increase labor productivity, its richness, significantly save materials, raw materials and energy, while improving the quality of products. In such conditions, it is necessary to form a new attitude to work, to stimulate the manifestation of creativity in work and a conscientious attitude to it.
The intensive development path is closely linked with the concept of innovation. At the same time, intensification is also important - the process of accelerating the development of social production, which is based on the use of more effective objects of labor, forms of labor organization in accordance with the achievements of technological progress, with the utmost full use of all groups of production factors.
The fastest pace of development of life was characterized by the last third of the 20th century due to the particularly fast pace of scientific progress. The interaction of science and production has led to the emergence of high technology. They provide the most effective use of developments introduced in production processes.
Thus, in contrast to the extensive direction, intensive development is characterized by qualitative changes in production factors, the transfer of expanded reproduction on a fundamentally new technical basis.