Division of Labour | Definition & Importance

The concept of division of labour was first popularised in 1779 by Adam Smith in “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” He pointed out the example of a pin factory to highlight the importance of the division of labour. The example showed how the efficiency of production in the factory increased considerably as the workers were split up and made to work in different roles.

Economics students are most likely to study this chapter in their curriculum. You may have to write lengthy assignments as well on this topic. So, let’s see what division of labour exactly is and its impact on the economy. As far as your assignments are concerned, our PhD qualified economists are here to assist you.

What Is Division of Labour?

It is an economic concept according to which the production process should be divided into multiple stages, thereby letting the workers focus on specific tasks. This concept allows the workers to focus on one aspect of the production rather than dealing with the entire production at once. Thus, the division of labour leads to cheaper and more efficient production of goods.

Importance of Division of Labour in Economiesss

Assembly line is the industrial arrangement of equipment, machines and workers to enable continuous and efficient flow of mass production operations. The division of labour forms the basic foundation for this assembly line. It is about breaking down work into simple tasks, limiting the handling of different tools and eliminating unnecessary motion.

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The advantages of division of labour are:

Increases production efficiency - The division of labour increases the productivity per worker.
Puts the right worker at the right place - Each worker is allotted as per her/his ability, skills and capacity.
The workers acquire a high degree of dexterity - The workers get to perform the same operation every day. Thus, it is easier for them to become highly skilled and attain a high degree of skill in the specific operation.
Promotes the development of new ideas - When the workers do the same operation, again and again, they figure out how to do the process in an improved manner. Thus, division of labour often leads to the invention of better tools and machinery.

Besides its advantages, the division of labour also brings forth a slew of potential challenges. For instance, an assembly line could entirely stop if there’s a blockage in one stage of the production process.

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What Is the Spatial Division of Labour?

The spatial division of labour entails the multiple stages of economic activity across space. Doreen Massey is an economic geographer who brought forth the text “Spatial Division of Labour” in terms of the Marxist political economy approach. The concepts of the spatial division of labour interpret the changing location of several industries related to a specific empirical context.

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What Are The Main Divisions Of Economies?

There are four divisions of economies - consumption, production, exchange and distribution. Economists these days may also consider “public finance” as one of the divisions of economies.

Consumption - This one deals with the satisfaction of human wants. When a human want is satisfied, it is known as consumption.
Production - This one is about the creation of wealth. In other words, it refers to the creation of utilities or the ability of a product to satisfy a want.
Exchange - Exchange is the outcome of the fact that no one country or person can ever be self-sufficient. And when they aren’t satisfied, they end up exchanging goods for money or money for goods.
Distribution - In economies, we mainly deal with functional distribution. It explains how production factors such as land, organisation, capital, and labour perform specific functions in the production process.
Public finance - It involves multiple aspects such as public debt, public expenditure, etc., and these aspects deal with the economies of a government.

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Division of Markets - What Is It?

Division of markets describe agreements between competitors where they decide to split markets without competing with each other. Competitors can divide the markets in terms of products, services, geographical locations and types of the target audience. The purpose of the market division is to make sure competitors can realise their extraordinary profits. The profit margins of the companies involved in the agreement increase due to reduced competition in the specific market.

International Division of Labour Definition In Simpler Words

The International Division of Labour is a result of globalization. Economists wanted to explain the spatial shift of industries from advanced capitalist locations to developing countries. And the International Division of Labour describes this ongoing reorganisation of production in terms of geographical locations perfectly. It is, in fact, a type of spatial distribution of labour where national economies do not govern the process of production anymore.

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Most Popular Questions Searched By Students:

Q- How do you explain the division of labour?

Ans- Division of labour refers to dividing a complex task into manageable sections and assigning separate groups to complete them individually. This is primarily followed in organizations participating in mass production and is fundamental to forming an assembly line. When you divide the labour, you can minimise production time, lower production costs, and maintain higher product quality.

Q- What is the division of labour? Explain with an example.

Ans- Division of labour is the process in which you have to divide the production process into its component parts and assign workers specializing in each component to their respective sections. For example, suppose in a factory mass producing garments, a section of the workers would be responsible for choosing the fabric, another would cut the cloth, while a third group would stick them to form the garment. For more examples of the division of labour, feel free to consult our experts on MyAssignmenthelp.com.

Q- How does division of labour help in production?

Ans- Division of labour helps in production as it increases the efficiency of labour. When breaking down the production into different components, you must assign people to each section according to their skill and experience. For example, a person who has never stitched cloth before would not be assigned to the group responsible for stitching. When people are given tasks based on their skills, it increases productivity and ensures that the worker can complete their work on time while maintaining quality.

Q- What are the 3 forms of division?

Ans- The three forms of division of labour are:

Occupational division of labour– Here, people are divided into groups based on their profession or trade
Complex and Personal division of labour– When a particular group specializes in a task and completes the entire process, it is known as a complex division of labour; if two or more groups work to complete one process, it is called a personal division of labour
Geographical division of labour– In this case, a particular region or territory specializes in an industry or a particular commodity

Q- Who introduced the concept of division of labour?

Ans- Popular notion states that the Scottish economist Adam Smith, in his An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), introduced the concept of division of labour. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. The idea of human beings dividing up tasks to increase efficiency has been around for ages. For example, Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) emphasised the idea of "cooperation" to achieve the benefits of specialization. Moreover, Smith's idea of the division of labour was quite different from the modern interpretation. Therefore, it's hard to pinpoint a specific person responsible for introducing this concept.