B. Governments should protect workers by supporting labor unions.
Explanation:
Aspects of Adam Smith’s Theory: The crucial aspects of development theory as propounded by Adam Smith are – (1) division of labour and (2) capital accumulation. Productivity of labors increases through division of labour. The two factors that facilitate the use of more division of labour are capital accumulation and size of market. We explain below these factors in detail. Also learn about the relevance of Adam Smith’s Theory to developing countries.
1. Division of Labour: A very important contribution made by Adam Smith to the analysis of the factors that bring about expansion of output is the division of labour. His treatment of this aspect of production is classic. He pointed out that there was a natural tendency among human beings “to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.” Among the benefits of division of labour he refers to increase in dexterity, saving in time, and invention of better machines and appliances. But Adam Smith points out that the degree of division of labour is limited by the extent of the market. Division of labour is profitable only if there is adequate market for the goods produced. He, thus, emphasized the expansion of international trade, which widens market for goods. One of the most significant contributions to economics by Adam Smith was to introduce the idea of increasing returns caused by division of labour. He thought the gain from by division of labour or specialization was a basic feature of social economy otherwise everyone, like Robinson Crusoe, will produce everything they want for themselves. Thus Thirlwall writes, “It is the notion of increasing returns, based on division of labour that lay at the heart of Adam Smith’s optimistic vision of economic progress as a self-generating process, in contrast to later classical economists who believed that economies would end up in a stationary state owing to diminishing returns in agriculture.” Given the crucial significance of increasing returns based on division of labour, productivity of labour rises with the increase in the size of market. Along with division of labour it is acceleration of investment or capital accumulation that leads to the increase in growth of output and living standards of people. It is worth noting that Adam Smith expressed the view that industry generally permitted greater scope for division of labour or specialization than agriculture and, therefore, in rich developed countries industrialization had taken place to a greater extent. Another important related notion put forward by Adam Smith was that division of labour is limited by the size of market’. If the extent of market is small, it will not be profitable to produce on a large scale which requires introducing a higher degree of division of labour or specialization. This is because if size of market for a good (i.e., the magnitude of demand for it) is quite small, it will not be profitable to introduce a higher degree of division of labour along with the use of large capital stock. In the absence of adequate demand, only a little degree of division of labour or specialization can be used and a good deal of capital stock is likely to remain underutilized. It is in this context that he advocated for free international trade which leads to the increase in the extent of market for goods and makes their production on a large scale profitable and induces the capitalist class to accumulate more capital.
2. Accumulation of Capital: Besides, capital accumulation, according to Smith, facilitates a greater degree of division of labour which causes productivity of labour to rise. Without capital accumulation the extent of division of labour cannot be increased much. Increase in capital formation leads to the production of different types of specialized equipment which are operated by different classes of workers who are skilled and specialized in various tasks. Thus, capital accumulation along with division of labour leads to the increase in industrial output and employment.
