34 lines
1.2 KiB
Markdown
34 lines
1.2 KiB
Markdown
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# Surplus Produce
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## Definition
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The portion of a worker's output that exceeds their own consumption needs and
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is therefore available for exchange. Smith argues that the certainty of being
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able to exchange surplus produce for the products of other workers' labour
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is what encourages every person to dedicate themselves to a particular
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occupation. Surplus is thus both the material prerequisite and the incentive
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for specialisation.
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## Source Chapter
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Book I, Chapter 2: "Of the Principle which gives Occasion to the Division
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of Labour"
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## Context
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Introduced in the passage describing the emergence of specialised trades in
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a tribal society. The armourer, carpenter, smith, and tanner each produce
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more of their specialty than they can personally consume, and exchange the
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surplus for other goods, reinforcing their commitment to specialisation.
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## Economic Domain
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Production
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## Smith's Original Wording
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"And thus the certainty of being able to exchange all that surplus part of
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the produce of his own labour, which is over and above his own consumption,
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for such parts of the produce of other men's labour as he may have occasion
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for, encourages every man to apply himself to a particular occupation."
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