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Limitations
As per Adam Smith, it is the extent of market that defines/limits
division of labour reduction in barriers leads to increase in
division of labour, and drive economic growth.
Division of labour, thereto specialisation, so as to repeatedly do
a task, results in demotivation due to boredom and alienation
which can lead to less production/growth.
Classical political economists as Adam Smith and David
Richards, raised issue of productive and unproductive labour
which influences nations wealth. As human labour is source of
wealth and unproductive labour, limits it.
Eg. Cleaning, record keeping, domestic servants, soldiers etc.
though necessary, dont seem productive in sense of increasing
wealth of nation.
Part of population, consumed wealth but didnt create it so to
maximise growth/wealth, unproductive costs to be minimised
and productive labour to be maximised.
This concept was later rejected in neoclassical economics, as
largely arbitrary All the factors of production viz land, labour
and capital create wealth and are all productive.
Marx regarded land and labours as the source of all wealth and
distinguished between natural and human wealth.
In his theories of Surplus value a labour which adds to value
of capital or results in capital accumulation is productive. And
division of labour is modified to make more and more labour
productive, for eg. through marketization and privatisation.
However, it is an evolving process. In division of labour of
modern advanced societies, unproductive functions of work in
classical sense, occupy a very large part of labour eg. in USA,
from labour data, facilitating exchange and financial claims
alone is main activity of 20 million workers; legal staff, police
security personnel etc. number 5 million.