Which of the following is not a feature of labour?

Analyze the question: We need the one statement that is NOT a feature of labour as a factor of production.

Concept: Features of labour

• Labour is human, so it is an active factor of production (it works on the passive factors like land and capital).
• Its reward is wages or salaries.
• It is not perfectly mobile. Workers face barriers such as family ties, language, culture, cost of relocation, and lack of skills. Labour is more mobile than land, but it is relatively immobile compared with capital. Economists often describe it as "imperfectly mobile".
• Labour cannot be separated from the worker, and it is perishable (an idle day of work is lost forever).
• Its efficiency depends on skill, training, health, education, motivation, and working conditions, not on its size.

Step-by-step evaluation:

• A. It is an active factor. True. Human effort drives production.
• B. It is highly mobile. Generally not true. Labour mobility is limited by occupational and geographical barriers. This is commonly treated as a weakness of labour, but see the next point.
• C. Its reward is wages or salaries. True.
• D. Its efficiency depends on its size. This is the more clearly false statement. Efficiency (productivity) depends on the quality of labour (skill, training, health), not on the number of workers. A large population does not make labour efficient, and too many workers can actually lower productivity (diminishing returns).

Note on B vs D: Both B and D are questionable. Labour is often described as "mobile" in textbooks (it can move between jobs and places, unlike land), so B can be accepted as a feature in a loose sense. The size of the labour force affects total output, but not the efficiency of each worker. That makes D the statement that is definitely not a feature.

Answer: D

Exam tip: Remember "Efficiency = Quality, not Quantity." If an option links labour efficiency to the number of workers, it is usually the wrong one. Size of the population affects the supply of labour, while skill and training affect its efficiency.