Third, by determining the overall l

Third, by determining the overall level of productivity, the productive forces determine the average standard of living and, via the effect on the economic system just discussed, also how the incomes are distributed. Both factors influence what people regard as their needs and, therefore, the composition of outputs produced. Since different outputs involve different processes of production and different economic roles, this is another way in which the productive forces are connected to the economic system. Important sociological characteristics may be involved here, including the degree of communal or privatised consumption and the demand for standardised or customised productions. The supply of various kinds of labour and other inputs may also be affected, because income levels affect the willingness to bear risks and thereby the disposition to specialise in particular economic activities.Fourth, because the productive forces include the productively relevant knowledge and skills of labour, along with the technologies that inculcate the knowledge and skills, they help determine the type of people involved in the economic system. What is entailed here is far more than the occupational mix; it relates to the character of individuals, including their degree of self-control and time discipline, as well as their capacities to communicate and cooperate with others. All these characteristics will, in turn, affect the kind of production relations that are most productive, and also the type of consumption that will predominate.