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Specialisation and the Production of Copper
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The production of copper is a good example for seeing the various types of specialisation that occur in an economy.
Specialisation by process
It was the Scottish Philosopher, Adam Smith, in his Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of Wealth of Nations published in 1776, who observed that when a production process is broken down into constituent parts, with workers concentrating on each task, the productivity of labour increased. He referred to this as the division of labour principle.
In producing the refined copper cake (slabs) a number of different processes can be observed
- Mining and crushing of the ore
- Grinding the ore to form a powder
- Concentrating the ore powder to form an enriched slurry
- Smelting the ore by melting and purifying copper to 99% pure
- Electrolytic refining
Specialisation by occupation
Throughout the process labour with specialised tasks work in the production of copper. Miners, for example, spend many hours both in open cast mines and deep mines to drill the ore and transport it to the surface for the next stage
Specialisation by firm
A number of firms ranging from state-owned parastatals such as KCCM to foreign multinationals undertake mining operations in Zambia. Whilst some of these are conglomerates and are involved in a number of areas of business many have specialised and their core activity is connected with the extraction of metal and minerals.
Specialisation by region
Natural resources such as copper are not usually located evenly through a country. Usually the resources can be found in certain areas associated with specific geology, climates and soils. The area in the north of Zambia where the copper is mined is known as the Copper belt. As a result of the copper mines concentrating in the area ancillary firms and secondary industry grew up. These
provide services to the mining firms. Economists refer to these benefits to firms resulting from the growth of the industry as external economies of scale or economies of agglomeration.
Specialisation by nation
There are probably few countries in the world that shows such a level of national specialisation. The economy of Zambia is reliant for 75% of its foreign exchange earning on copper, although in the early 1990s this rose to over 90%. Such overdependence on one product can create major problems.
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Related Glossary Items:
Parastatals
Productivity
Economies of scale
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