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# Productive and Unproductive Labour

## Definition

A fundamental classification of economic activity distinguishing labour that
adds value to materials through transformation into vendible commodities from
labour that provides services without creating lasting value. Productive labour
fixes and realizes itself in particular subjects or commodities that endure
after the labour is past and can be stored, exchanged, or employed again,
while unproductive labour perishes in the very instant of performance without
leaving any vendible commodity or value that can be stored or exchanged.

## Source Chapter

Book II, Chapter 3

## Context

The central analytical framework of this chapter, introduced to explain how
different types of labour affect capital accumulation and economic growth.
Smith uses this distinction to show why manufacturers grow rich while those
maintaining unproductive servants grow poor, and how this affects the overall
productive capacity of a nation.

## Economic Domain

Production

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