The substitution of steel for wooden ploughs in agricultural production is an example of
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) capital-augmenting technological progress
A plough is a capital good, because it is a tool used to produce output. Replacing a wooden plough with a steel one makes the existing capital more productive. In economics, technical progress that raises the efficiency with which capital is used is called capital-augmenting.
- ✗ (a) Labour-augmenting progress raises the efficiency of labour, for example through better skills or training. Changing the material of the plough improves the tool, not the worker.
- ✓ (b) The plough is physical capital. A steel plough is more durable and cuts the soil better than a wooden one, so the same capital input yields more output. That is a rise in the technical efficiency of capital, which is capital-augmenting technical progress.
- ✗ (c) 'Capital-reducing' technological progress is not one of the standard categories. The change here does not cut the amount of capital the farmer uses. It makes the existing capital input more productive.
- ✗ (d) The change fits capital-augmenting technical progress, so 'none of the above' is wrong.
Remember · Technical progress is labour-augmenting if it raises labour's efficiency and capital-augmenting if it raises capital's efficiency. A better tool or machine, such as a steel plough in place of a wooden one, is capital-augmenting.
Sources
- IMF Working Paper WP/99/43, Unemployment, Capital-Labor Substitution, and Economic Growth (Rowthorn) ↗ “Λ N and Λ K are indices of the technical efficiency with which these factors are utilized. Labor-augmenting and capital-augmenting technical progress are indicated by an increase in Λ N and Λ K respectively.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2015, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
