Division of Labour

Labour is one of the four factors of production that can be defined as the total of all human physical and mental effort used in the creation of goods and services, a measure of work done by human beings and it is usually rewarded with wages. In order for labour to be highly productive, effective and specialized early economist such as Adams Smith introduced the concept of the 'division of labour'. This essay will define and analyse the term 'division of labour' with the aim of establishing the differences between the social division of labour, the technical division of labour, old International and the new International division of labour. The essay will also discuss the reason why early economist believes that the division of labour is important and critical to wealth creation and in introduction of technology into production.

The term 'division of labour' as it means in literal term is about dividing labour, or work done by human beings. However, in economics division of labour can be defined as the narrow specialization of tasks within a production process, the separation of manufacturing process into distinct and simple operations which are then delegated to specific hands or machines to perform. Division of labour as an economic concept is closely associated with economic growth, as it is seen as the major motor that drives economic growth because since the tasks have been divided into simple and distinct operations the work acquires a greater dexterity by performing the same operation over and over again, thus the quality and quantity of goods and services produced is superior to other similar concept of labour in economics. Adams Smith in one of his works "The Wealth of a Nation" argued that it was labour rather than trade and commerce that created wealth and if labour created wealth and increase in labour of the output of labour translated to an increase in wealth, hence the focus on labour and the division of labour