31 lines
1 KiB
Markdown
31 lines
1 KiB
Markdown
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# Productive Powers of Labour
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## Definition
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The capacity of human labour to produce output, measured in terms of the
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quantity and quality of goods a given number of workers can produce within
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a given time. Smith argues that the division of labour is the primary cause
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of increases in productive power, and that differences in productive power
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explain differences in national wealth.
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## Source Chapter
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Book I, Chapter 1: "Of the Division of Labour"
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## Context
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Smith introduces productive powers as the dependent variable that the division
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of labour improves. He contrasts the output of an unskilled individual worker
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(one pin per day) with the output of a coordinated team under division of
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labour (4,800 pins per person per day) to demonstrate the scale of improvement.
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## Economic Domain
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Production
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## Smith's Original Wording
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"This great increase in the quantity of work, which, in consequence of the
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division of labour, the same number of people are capable of performing, is
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owing to three different circumstances."
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