
Contents
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Division of labour Division of labour
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The concept of capital The concept of capital
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Capital accumulation and economic development Capital accumulation and economic development
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Productive versus unproductive labour Productive versus unproductive labour
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Wages and profits Wages and profits
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Economic policy Economic policy
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Legacy Legacy
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References References
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13 Adam Smith on Labour and Capital
Get accessTony Aspromourgos is Professor of Economics in the University of Sydney. He has published extensively on the history of economic thought, including in the European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, the Journal of the History of Economic Thought, History of Economic Ideas, and the History of Economics Review. He is also author of The Science of Wealth: Adam Smith and the Framing of Political Economy (Routledge 2009). Tony Aspromourgos is a founding and continuing member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, and is Co-editor of the History of Economics Review.
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Published:01 July 2013
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Abstract
In its most fundamental, constructive parts devoted to descriptive theory, The Wealth of Nations is first and foremost an account of the causes of economic growth and development. Smith’s theory of economic development gives primary place, at least as the proximate determinants of development, to labour productivity growth and capital accumulation. This chapter examines successively, under six heads, the key dimensions of Smith’s treatment of labour and capital, and the relations between the two, both in The Wealth of Nations and other writings: division of labour, the concept of capital, capital accumulation and economic development, productive versus unproductive labour, the theory of real wages and of profit rates, and economic policy in relation to labour and capital. There are some concluding reflections on Smith’s legacy in relation to these matters.
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