ABSTRACT
The so-called factors of production are infamous among Institutional economists and have played a prominent role in their critique of Neoclassical economics. Veblen argued that these taxonomic categories were concerned with distribution rather than production. David Hamilton extends this line of criticism using Durkheim's concept of collective representation. Hamilton argues that Neoclassical microeconomic theory is the religion of modern industrial capitalism. The factors of production are used to legitimate incomes received and have no relationship to actual productive activity. Moreover the categories used refer to the social hierarchy and status relationships in society and not the techniques or structure of production.
