Chapter 3

• Specialization Requires Exchange: The ability to specialize in a particular task or trade (division of labor) arises from the human propensity to exchange goods and services. If a market is too small, individuals cannot dedicate themselves to a single employment because they won't be able to trade their surplus production for the other goods they need.
• Small Markets Hinder Specialization: In isolated or sparsely populated areas, like the highlands of Scotland, individuals must perform a wide variety of tasks themselves (e.g., a farmer being a butcher, baker, and brewer). Specialized trades like smiths, carpenters, or even nailers cannot subsist because the local demand is insufficient to support them. A nailer producing 300,000 nails a year would find it impossible to sell even a day's worth of output in such a small market.
• Towns Foster Specialization: Larger towns and cities provide a sufficiently extensive market to support specialized professions. A porter, for example, can only find enough employment in a great town.
• Water Carriage Expands Markets Dramatically: The chapter emphasizes the critical role of water transportation (sea-coast and navigable rivers) in expanding the market. Water carriage is significantly cheaper and more efficient than land carriage. Smith illustrates this with the example of transporting goods between London and Edinburgh: a ship with 6-8 men could carry the same amount of goods (200 tons) in the same time as 50 wagons requiring 100 men and 400 horses. This lower transport cost allows goods to be traded over much greater distances, effectively enlarging the market.
• Coastal and Riverside Areas Develop First: Consequently, industry and the division of labor tend to develop first along sea-coasts and riverbanks where access to broader markets is easier. Improvements in inland areas often lag significantly behind, as their markets are initially limited to their immediate surroundings. American colonies, for instance, were primarily established along the coast or navigable rivers.
• Historical Examples:
  • Mediterranean Civilizations: The earliest civilized nations were those around the Mediterranean Sea. Its calm waters, numerous islands, and proximate shores facilitated early navigation and trade, even with primitive shipbuilding and without the compass.
  • Egypt: Egypt's early development was significantly aided by the Nile River and its network of canals, which provided extensive inland navigation, connecting towns, villages, and even farmhouses.
  • Bengal and China: Similar early advancements in agriculture and manufacturing occurred in Bengal (due to the Ganges and other rivers) and eastern China (with its extensive network of canals formed by great rivers). These regions achieved opulence primarily through inland navigation, even without significant foreign commerce.
  • Undeveloped Inland Regions: Conversely, vast inland areas of Africa and Asia (like ancient Scythia or modern Tartary and Siberia) remained "barbarous and uncivilized" due largely to a lack of navigable waterways connecting them to wider markets. Africa lacks the large inlets and sufficiently interconnected river systems found in Europe and Asia.
• Control of Waterways: Even with rivers, if a nation does not control the entire course of a river to the sea, its ability to engage in significant commerce can be hampered by downstream nations. The Danube, for example, is less beneficial to Bavaria, Austria, and Hungary than it would be if one of them controlled its entire length to the Black Sea.

In essence, the chapter posits that the size of the market is the primary determinant of the degree to which labor can be divided and specialized, and that access to efficient transportation, particularly water carriage, is crucial for expanding markets and fostering economic development.

个人总结

本章节斯密总结了市场规模对专业度的影响以及水运对商业市场的促进。小的市场会阻碍专业化，因为市场规模没办法细分到居民需要的每种产品及服务，而且如果专业化后生产的东西也没办法完全消化。

斯密提到了水运比陆运更便宜，更高效。所以总是那些在海边或者河边的地区先发展起来，他举了早期地中海，埃及，中国等地的例子，并提出对水域的控制权是至关重要的。