1.1.5 Specialisation of labour Flashcards
What is specialisation of Labour?
Where economies focus on producing the goods they are most efficient at, then trading the surplus.
What individual speaks about the Specialisation of Labour
What does he suggest?
Adam Smith. In the enquiry into the wealth of nations.
He suggests that how it can increase labour productivity (output per worker), allowing firms to increase efficiency and lower their costs of production.
What are the advantages of specialisation of labour (2)
- Less time is being spent moving between tasks.
- Individuals master a certain skill
What are the disadvantages of specialisation of Labour (2)
- Workers may only have a narrow skillset
- Worker may become bored repeating the same task.
What are the functions of money?
A medium of exchange- Enabling people to specialise and buy other goods and services and is accepted everywhere. People do not have to have a double coincidence of goods.
A store of value- people can save Money to spend at a later date. (it will hold its value)
A measure of value- enabling people to asses the value of different goods and services.
A way of deferred payment- can be payed at a later date even when the money is not there in the present
What are the highest exports of 3 countries
give examples?
USA- food beverage and feed.
UK- cars.
Egypt- crude oil.
What is division of labour?
When a process is split into subtasks and labour is allocated to each sub-task.
What are the advantages of division of labour? (3 reasons)
- The workers become more at efficient at the task so they achieve a higher output.
- less time spent on changing between tasks.
- less overall training is needed.
What are the disadvantages of division of labour? (3 reasons)
- Can cause workforce to be inflexible as they are only specialised in one task.
- Workers could feel less of an ownership on the final product less quality.
- workers could feel specialisation is monotonous and could cause boredom.
What is the difference between artisan and production lien?
Artisan- when one worker deals with the product or service from start to finish.
Production line- when a process is split into sub-tasks and labour is assigned to each sub-task
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Artisan production. (2 for each)
Advantage.
-It can lead to a higher quality product as the worker could take ownership over the product.
-The production could lead to a more tailored productive.
Disadvantage-
Output may be lower as there is no division of labour.
Takes longer to train up workers.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a production line? (2 for each)
Advantages-
No time wasted swapping between tasks.
less training Is needed as they can only be trained in what they specialise in.
Disadvantages-
It could lead to lower quality control as no one takes full ownership of the product.
If there is a delay somewhere in the production line it could have a knock on effect.
What is overspecialisation?
What can it cause?
When an economy focuses too much on specialisation of labour.
It can cause lack of education.
employment immovability.
Unable to adapt to demand causing regional deprevatio
What is production?
What is productivity?
what is labour productivity?
Production- output in a period of time.
Productivity- output per unit of input in a period of time.
Labour productivity- output per unit of labour in a period of time.
