Labour which involves mainly physical effort and very little mental effort is categorized as physical labour.
On the other hand, labour requiring intensive mental or intellectual effort is categorized as mental labour.
The labour of a coolie (porter) is an example of physical labour, while that of a teacher or lawyer is mental labour.
The four ways in which Division of Labour will influence production in an economy are as follows:
1. 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.
2. Large Scale Production—Division of Labour makes large scale production possible. Indeed, large 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.
3. 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.
4. Lower Prices of Output—The reduced average costs of the products leads to reduced prices of the outputs in the market. As a result, consumers are benefited.