What is division of labor?

Division of labour refers to the method of organising production where the work required to produce a product is divided into different specialized tasks with different workers specializing in each task.
The four ways in which division of labour will influence production in an economy are as follows:
i. Quality of production improves - Division of labour leads to an increase in the efficiency of labour which further leads not only to an increase in the quantity of output but also to an improvement in the quality of the produced goods and services.
ii. Large scale production - Division of labour makes large scale production possible. Indeed, scale production requires division of labour. If a car manufacturing company, for instance wishes to make 10000 cars in a year but does not introduce division of labour in its factory, it will have to employ so many workers that it will not be an economically viable company. It is by virtue of division of labour that the company can produce 10000 cars per year with a reasonable number of workers.
iii. Reduced average cost - Since division of labour increases total output, even with an unchanged number of labourers, the average cost of producing a commodity falls. This is a social advantage. Society can produce goods by incurring lower average cost of production.
iv. Lower prices of output - The reduced average cost of the products leads to reduced prices of the outputs in the market. As a result, consumers are benefitted.

Divisin of Labour :

1. It means labour will be distributed among the different individuals having different skills of specializations.

2. Division of labour became popular in modern and complex societies after the Industrial Revolution.

3. With the increase of division of labour in modern societies, individuals are more than ever functionally connected by their mutual needs.

4. Due to this process, every labour (usually) is specialised, individuals become more dependent on others to perform separate economic functions, which they are not able to carry out themselves