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Unimproved Land
For Smith, unproductive labor is work that does not add value to the economy because it does not create goods worth more than the initial capital investment (wages and supplies). Rather, it simply uses up that capital. Soldiers, lawyers, scholars, doctors, entertainers, menial servants, public officials, and clergymen are all unproductive laborers. (The agricultural system presents a different definition of unproductive labor, which Smith rejects.)
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Unproductive Labor Term Timeline in The Wealth of Nations
The timeline below shows where the term Unproductive Labor appears in The Wealth of Nations. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 2, Chapter 3
...productive, because it adds value to the object it acts upon, and some labor is unproductive because it does not. For instance, manufacturers’ labor is productive because it adds value to...
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...in the future. Indeed, its annual produce must maintain all its laborers, both productive and unproductive. One part of this produce goes to replace the capital stock used up in production,...
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...proportion of revenue that goes to replace capital helps determine the ratio of productive to unproductive labor. This portion is high in 18th century Europe, both in agriculture and trade, but...
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...avoid bankruptcy. The same isn’t true of public funds, which tend to be spent on unproductive workers. When their number grows too high, the economy starts to shrink. But responsible private...
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...class. Buying durable things is easier to stop and employs more people than simply paying unproductive laborers.
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Book 4, Chapter 9
The agricultural system is wrong to call artisans, manufacturers, and merchants unproductive. Even if they don’t produce a surplus like farmers, they still generate enough revenue to...
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