UPPSC 2021 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 67 of 150

Correct — D, Technocrats and Bureaucrats. In standard growth economics the recognised 'factors of economic growth' are the ingredients that raise an economy's productive capacity: capital accumulation, technological progress, growth of the labour force (population/human capital) and the division of labour and specialisation. 'Technocrats and bureaucrats' are categories of personnel who administer policy — they are not themselves a factor of production or an engine of growth. So among the four, option D is the one that does not belong in the list of major growth factors.

• (a)Accumulation of capital and reforms in technology — This IS a major factor. Capital formation and technological progress are the two central drivers in growth theory (e.g. the Solow model) — they directly expand output per worker, so this cannot be the 'not a factor' answer.
• (b)Change in population — This IS a factor. Growth of the working-age population enlarges the labour force, a classic input to aggregate output; population/labour supply is a recognised determinant of growth.
• (c)Division of labour in specialised activities — This IS a factor. Adam Smith identified the division of labour and specialisation as a fundamental source of rising productivity and growth, so it belongs among the major factors.

Economic growth is the sustained rise in an economy's real output, and growth theory attributes it to a small set of 'factors': accumulation of physical capital, technological progress, expansion and quality of the labour force, natural resources, and the division of labour/specialisation. Administrators such as technocrats and bureaucrats may shape the policy environment, but they are not counted among the direct factors of production that generate growth.

This is a 'which is NOT' question, so the technique is to test each option against the textbook list of growth factors. Three of the options — capital + technology, population, and division of labour — map cleanly onto the classical determinants (Solow's capital and technology, labour-force growth, and Adam Smith's specialisation). The odd one out is the category of people who run the administration, which no standard model lists as a factor of growth.

• Recognised factors of growth: capital accumulation, technological progress, labour-force (population) growth, division of labour/specialisation, natural resources.
• Capital formation and technology are the core drivers in the Solow growth model.
• Adam Smith highlighted the division of labour and specialisation as a source of productivity growth.
• 'Technocrats and bureaucrats' describe administrative personnel — not a factor of production.

• Reading the question as 'which helps the economy' — good governance helps, but the question asks specifically about factors of growth
• Overlooking that population change counts as a factor (via the labour force)

UPPSC and UPSC test this as a definitional 'which is / is not a factor of economic growth', or by contrasting growth (rise in output) with development (growth plus welfare/distribution).

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the Solow growth model, long-run growth in output per worker is driven mainly by:

  • (a)Population growth alone
  • (b)Technological progress
  • (c)The size of the bureaucracy
  • (d)The volume of imports

  Answer(b) Technological progress — capital accumulation alone runs into diminishing returns, so sustained per-worker growth comes from technology.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which economist is most associated with the idea that the division of labour raises productivity and drives growth?

  • (a)John Maynard Keynes
  • (b)Adam Smith
  • (c)Thomas Malthus
  • (d)David Ricardo

  Answer(b) Adam Smith — 'The Wealth of Nations' opens with the division of labour and specialisation as a source of growth.