Nearer to Straffa than Marx: Adam Smith on productive and unproductive labour

Roy Grieve ()

No 1304, Working Papers from University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics

Abstract: We investigate Adam Smith’s analysis of the properties of what he called “productive†- as against “unproductive†- labour, a concept which commentators have frequently found problematic. Puzzles have been noted and inconsistency alleged. A question arises – did Smith confuse two different concepts of productive labour? We believe that, despite the apparent problems, a coherent reading of Smith’s account of productive and unproductive labour is in fact possible: if “productive labour†is understood to refer comprehensively to labour which not only maintains but, through producing a net surplus, adds to the community’s stock of wealth – as regards either the financial or the real resources which make possible economic growth – the difficulties with Smith’s treatment largely disappear.

Keywords: Productive/unproductive labour; basic/non-basic goods; surplus production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B12 E11 O11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2013-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme and nep-hpe
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Working Paper: Nearer to Sraffa than Marx: Adam Smith on Productive and Unproductive Labour (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:str:wpaper:1304

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