Division of labor refers to reducing a job to its smallest components so each worker can complete one component, thus enabling jobs to be completed more quickly and/or accurately.
Adam Smith, a very influential economist, believed that the standard of living could rise only if the productivity of labor would rise. For Smith, the most important force leading to a rising standard of living was division of labor. Smith argued that increasing the division of labor increases productivity. Many modern economists have adopted this view and the division of labor has become an integral part of the American capitalist economy.
