An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area, the labor, capital and land resources, and the economic agents that socially participate in the production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area. A given economy is the end result of a process that involves its technological evolution, history and social organization, as well as its geography, natural resource endowment, and ecology, as main factors. These factors give context, content, and set the conditions and parameters in which an economy functions.

In the social sciences, economics is the study of human choice behavior and the methodology used in making production decisions; in particular, though not limited to, how those choices and decisions determine the allocation of scarce resources and their effect on production, distribution, and consumption. Economics studies how individuals and societies seek to satisfy needs and wants through incentives, choices, and allocations within a given set of resource constraints. Alfred Marshall in the late 19th century informally described economics as "the study of man in the ordinary business of life." In economics, business is the social science of managing people to organize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate revenue.