Who coined the term the “division of labor?”

12 05 2008

I like this post from Freakonomics talking about early examples of specialization in production, which is essentially a simple way for talking about the division of labor.  However, if you think about it, it’s not really useful.  Of course, people divided labor before Adam Smith explained how it worked in an English pin factory.  The notion is common-sensical enough that anybody who thought about production in any depth would do it that way.

What I want to know is who coined the term division of labor?  Was it Smith?  He certainly popularized it, but who came up with the precise phrase “division of labor?”  Can anybody out there help me with this one?  How do you know?


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