Readings In The Economics Of The Division Of Labor

Study of the progressive division of labor is a burgeoning industry in economics in recent years. Classical authors, dating back as early as 500 BC, have made insightful analysts on the determinants and implications of the division of labor. Unfortunately these writings ore rather scattered and not readily accessible. This important book aims to fill this void, serving as a valuable source of reference for scholars interested in the economics of specialization. The volume begins with the precursors of political economy including the ancient Greeks, medieval Islamic scholastics and mercantilists, continues with the classical political economists and the neoclassicists, and concludes with the Austrian economists such as Hayek in The 1940s. It covers major themes and perspectives about the division of labor that have ever emerged in the discipline of the economic science, including the economics of increasing returns to specialization, the twin ideas of division of labor and the extent of the market, the theory of the spontaneous market order, coordination in the factory system and large scale manufactures, knowledge and the division of mental labor, integration of analyses of specialization into the neoclassical framework, etc.

This book provides, for the first time, a systematic and comprehensive narrative of the history of one central idea in economics, namely the division of labour, over the past two and a half millennia, with special focus on that having occurred in the most recent two and a half centuries. Quite contrary to the widely held belief, the idea has a fascinating biography, much richer than that exemplified by the pin-making story that was popularized by Adam Smith’s classical work published in 1776.

A comprehensive collection of classical and contemporary readings in this field from leading local and international scholars. The release of this new edition provides up-to-date analysis of economic theory grounded in case studies that are applicable to our current social and political climate.

mile Durkheim is often referred to as the father of sociology. Along with Karl Marx and Max Weber he was a principal architect of modern social science and whose contribution helped established it as an academic discipline. "The Division of Labor in Society," published in 1893, was his first major contribution to the field and arguably one his most important. In this work Durkheim discusses the construction of social order in modern societies, which he argues arises out of two essential forms of solidarity, mechanical and organic. Durkheim further examines how this social order has changed over time from more primitive societies to advanced industrial ones. Unlike Marx, Durkheim does not argue that class conflict is inherent to the modern Capitalistic society. The division of labor is an essential component to the practice of the modern capitalistic system due to the increased economic efficiency that can arise out of specialization; however Durkheim acknowledges that increased specialization does not serve all interests equally well. This important and foundational work is a must read for all students of sociology and economic philosophy.

This monograph resurrects the spirit of classical economic thinking on network effects of division of labor and general equilibrium mechanisms that simultaneously determine the interdependent benefits of specialization and the number of participants in the network of division of labor (extent of the market) in a modern body of inframarginal economics. Inframarginal economics applies inframarginal analysis (nonclassical mathematical programming which allows corner solution) to studies of network effects of division of labor, individuals' networking decisions in choosing their levels of specialization, mechanisms that endogenously determine the network size and pattern of division of labor, increasing returns, and the relationship between transaction costs, evolution in institutions, property rights, contracts, organization, and the network size and pattern of division of labor. Here, inframarginal analysis is total cost-benefit analysis across different network patterns of trade and division of labor in addition to marginal analysis of resource allocation for a given pattern of organization. It provides an overarching framework that encompasses many areas of the discipline that have customarily been treated as separate branches. These include microeconomics, macroeconomics, development economics, international economics, urban economics, growth theory, industrial organization. applications of game theory in economics, economics of property rights, economics of transaction costs, economics of institutions and contracts, economics of organization, managerial economics, theory of hierarchy, new theory of the firm, theory of money, theory of insurance, theory of the network and reliability, and so on.