There are various alternative techniques of producing a commodity. For example, cotton cloth can be produced with either handlooms or power looms or automatic looms. Production with handlooms involves use of more labour and production while automatic loom involves use of more machines and capital. A society has to decide whether it will produce cotton cloth using labour-intensive techniques or capital-intensive techniques. Likewise, for all goods and services, it has to decide whether to use labour-intensive techniques or capital intensive techniques. Obviously, the choice would depend on the availability of different factors of production (i.e., labour and capital) and their relative prices. It is in the society’s interest to use those techniques of production that make best use of the available resources.