Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1Roscher, Wilhelm
History
Principles of Political Economy, Vol. 1
Roscher, Wilhelm
Economics
But it is the extent of the market especially which determines the limits
of the division of labor; for there is a direct and necessary relation
between the division of labor and the exchange of its surplus. Hence, the
division of labor may be carried farthest in the case of those products
which are most easily transported from place to place, and which, at the
same time, possess the utility that is most widely recognized. The
smallness of the market may depend upon the scantiness of the population,
or upon its scattered condition;(364) upon their smaller ability to pay,
or upon the bad means of communication at their disposal.(365) Hence it
is, that in villages, small cities, and still more on isolated farms, many
branches of business are carried on by one person, which are divided among
many in larger cities; and this is especially true in the case of
businesses which have a chiefly local demand.(366) While, in small places,
the barber is also frequently the physician, in larger ones there are
dentists, oculists, accoucheurs, surgeons etc.(367); and while, in the
former, the tavern keeper is both dry goods merchant and grocer, there
are, in the latter, tea merchants, cigar-dealers, dealers in mourning
goods (in London childbed-linen warehouses) etc., and hotels for all the
different classes of travelers. There can be a distinct class of porters,
hack-men etc., only where commerce is very active.(368) And even in cities
like Paris, where the costly industries that minister to luxury, that of
the jeweler, for instance, admit of only a limited division of labor, this
effect depends on the smallness of the market; a market, indeed, which
geographically may extend over the whole earth, but which, in an economic
sense, must always remain small, on account of the small number of
customers who have the ability to pay for their products. The real wonders
produced by the division of labor and the employment of machinery we must
look for in the manufacture of the cheapest and commonest
commodities.(369)
Section LXI.
The Division Of Labor—Means Of Increasing It.
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