Adam Smith on the Division of Labour

Adam Smith's treatment of the division of labour has intrigued readers and commentators for many years. On the one hand it provided a masterful analysis of the gains from specialization and exchange upon which, it is no exaggeration to say, the discipline of economics was nurtured. On the other hand, Smith's apparent afterthoughts of Book V, where he refers to the deleterious effects of the division of labour upon the work force, constitute a major source of inspiration for the socialist critique of capitalist institutions, as Marx himself acknowledged. For Smith states here, in part

Adam smith · Arithmetic · Division (mathematics) · Division of labour · Economics · Exaggeration · Market economy · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Positive economics · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Economic Theory and Policy · Law · Mathematics · Political Economy and Marxism · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology

• O papel da liberdade na crítica à economia feudal em Smith

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  Ricardo Blaug•Critical Review of International…•2009

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• The Ending of the British Slave Trade in 1807

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• El concepto smithiano de obligación política. Ilusión, virtud y felicidad en la sociedad comercial

  Open Access•Nicole Darat, Nicole Darat Guerra•Revista de filosofía•2023

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• Another Advantage of the Division of Labor

  Nathan Rosenberg•Journal of Political Economy•1976

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• The Emergence of the Theory of the Firm. From Adam Smith to Alfred Marshall

  D P O'Brien, D O’brien et al.•Economica•1980

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• The Classical Heritage in Adam Smith's Ethics

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• The Natural Philosophy in Smith's Essays

  Gloria Vivenza•Adam Smith and the Classics•2001

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• Conclusion

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• The Division of Labour and the Theory of Value

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• Adam Smith and Ancient Literature

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• Postscript

  Gloria Vivenza•Adam Smith and the Classics•2001

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• The Lectures on Jurisprudence and Roman Law

  Gloria Vivenza•Adam Smith and the Classics•2001

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• The Division of Labor, Coordination Costs, and Knowledge

  Gary S Becker, K M Murphy et al.•The Quarterly Journal of Economics•1992

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• Smith's theory of actions and the moral significance of unintended consequences

  Amos Witztum•European Journal of the History…•2008

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• The Machine in Adam Smith’s Economic and Wider Thought

  Open Access•Tony Aspromourgos•Journal of the History of…•2012

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• Adam Smith on the subordination of wage-earners in the commercial society

  Jean Dellemotte, Benoît Walraevens•European Journal of the History…•2015

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• How did it all begin? Adam Smith on the early and rude state of society and the age of hunters

  Ecem Okan•European Journal of the History…•2017

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• ‘Universal opulence’

  Tony Aspromourgos•European Journal of the History…•2010

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• The geography of knowledge

  Jeremy Howells•Journal of Economic Geography•2012

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• Efficiency vs. Meaningful Work

  Open Access•David Spencer•Contributions to Political Economy•2024

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• Divisão Regional Do Conhecimento Na Produção Agropecuária Brasileira

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• Liberty, political economy and good government in Adam Smith

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• The past and present of abolition

  Robbie Shilliam•Review of International Political…•2020

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• The impact of increasing returns on knowledge and big data

  Open Access•Yao-Su Hu•Prometheus•2020

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• Classical Political Economy and the Power of Technology

  Open Access•Stefan Fritsch•Philosophy & Technology•2025

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• The Desire to Consume Is the Origin of Adam Smith's Division of Labor

  Louise Villeneuve•History of Political Economy•2026

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• Adam Smith

  Open Access•J M A Gee•Scottish Journal of Political…•1985

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• Some Considerations Relating to Property Rights in Man

  Open Access•Stanley L Engerman•The Journal of Economic History•1973

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• The Intellectual Origins of Modern Economic Growth

  Open Access•Joel Mokyr•The Journal of Economic History•2005

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• Costes de transacción vs costes de jerarquía en la provisión de bienes

  Open Access•Estrella Trincado Aznar•Revista de Historia Económica /…•2007

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• The State, the Market and the Individual. Politics, Economy and the Idea of Man in the Works of Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith and in Renaissance Humanism

  Open Access•Torben Hviid Nielsen•Acta Sociologica•1986

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• Smithian insights on automation and the future of work

  Open Access•Jonathan Boyd, Jonathan A Boyd et al.•Futures•2019

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• Justice and Political Economy in Commercial Society

  Edward S Cohen•The Journal of Politics•1989

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• The politics of the division of labour

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• Does "Bettering Our Condition" Really Make Us Better Off? Adam Smith on Progress and Happiness

  Open Access•Dennis C Rasmussen•American Political Science Review•2006

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• The Endogenous Nature of Technological Progress and Transfer in Adam Smith's Thought

  Bruce Elmslie•History of Political Economy•1994

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• Adam Smith on the Cultural Effects of Specialization

  Edwin G West•History of Political Economy•1996

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• Smith's Division of Labor and Rae's Invention

  Syed Ahmad, Sharifah Mumtazah Syed Ahmad•History of Political Economy•1996

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• Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson and Karl Marx on the Division of Labour

  Open Access•Lisa Hill•Journal of Classical Sociology•2007

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• How to Read The Wealth of Nations (or Why the Division of Labor Is More Important Than Competition in Adam Smith)

  Open Access•Jonathan Hearn•Sociological Theory•2018

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• Democracy inside the black box? Neo-classical theories of the firm and industrial democracy1

  Jo Tomlinson, Jim Tomlinson•Economy and Society•1986

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• Skilling and deskilling

  Open Access•Florian Brugger, Christian Gehrke•Theory and Society•2018

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