32 lines
1 KiB
Markdown
32 lines
1 KiB
Markdown
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# Agriculture
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## Definition
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The sector of production concerned with the cultivation of land and the raising
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of crops and livestock. Smith argues that agriculture does not admit of as many
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subdivisions of labour as manufactures, because seasonal rhythms prevent workers
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from specialising year-round in a single task. As a result, agricultural
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productivity improves less dramatically with the division of labour than
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manufacturing productivity.
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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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Agriculture is introduced as a counterpoint to manufactures. Smith notes that
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the ploughman, harrower, sower, and reaper are often the same person, and that
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this is why even rich countries do not surpass poor countries in agricultural
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output as dramatically as in manufacturing output.
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## Economic Domain
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Production
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## Smith's Original Wording
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"The nature of agriculture, indeed, does not admit of so many subdivisions of
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labour, nor of so complete a separation of one business from another, as
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manufactures."
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