Economic sector

The term economic sector recuts two definitions:

  • that of multiple fields of economic activity, and for which each economic sector is rather homogeneous and gathers productions rather close (for example, the “sector of the small products electric household appliances”)
  • that to the distribution of the whole of the economic activity in three great economic sectors (primary education, secondary, tertiary sector)

Economic sector like regrouping of close activities

See also: Branch of industry, Branches of activity

August 1st

Three great economic sectors

It is the Scottish economist Colin Clark which had the idea to define three economic sectors principal, according to the nature of industry:

  • the Primary sector relates to the collection and the direct use of natural resources (Matériau X, energy, and some Aliment S),
  • the Secondary industry relates to the processing industries (acting on a matter)
  • the Tertiary sector gathers industries of the service (primarily immaterial: insurances, intermediation, formation, studies and research, administration, Services with the person, safety, cleaning, etc).

This classification is not rigid, agriculture for example having been in the beginning classified as of the secondary industry (the farmer transforms seeds into consumable goods, for example), in opposition to hunting and the simple gathering.

Primary sector

See also: Primary sector, Primary sector in France

The primary sector includes/understands the Agriculture, the fishing, the Forestry development and the Mining. One indicates sometimes three last industries by “other primary industries”. Primary industries are related on the extraction of the resources of the ground and agriculture.

Secondary industry

See also: Secondary industry, Secondary industry in France

The secondary industry gathers the linked activities with the transformation of the raw materials resulting from the primary sector. It includes/understands activities as varied as the Industrie of wood, the Aéronautique and the electronic …

Tertiary sector

See also: Tertiary sector, Tertiary sector in France

The tertiary sector gathers all the economic activities which do not form part of both others. The Insurance, the Teaching, the Large distribution and the Tourisme belong to the tertiary sector.

Consequence on the work methods

The progressive shift of the activities towards the tertiary sector (Theory of discharge developed by Alfred Sauvy, Theory of the waves of development of Alvine Toffler) increased the number of “professional workers” according to the definition of Peter Drucker. But this job enrichment is not for the produced moment in a massive way, as opposed to what some had believed towards the Années 1960. Certain uses of vigil, employee of counter, Apartment house manager or cashier of supermarket belong well to the tertiary sector, without necessarily representing a profit in quality of life.

That maintains certain outlets for the little qualified people, although the educational objective in many countries, including emergent countries, is to increase the creative qualifications and capacities. This objective is considered crucial to face the competing evolutions within the framework of the economy at the same time mondialized and turned more and more towards knowledge (economy of the knowledge). This orientation towards the tertiary sector and technology makes that it is towards basins of little qualified and little remunerated labor and still little touched by the tertiary sector that certain employment is delocalized (but admittedly not the essence of the added-value).

Difficulty of appreciation

It is important to distinguish total sector from a company and distribution of the activities inside this one. A company of the secondary industry (manufacture of steel ingots, for example) must by the force of the things have well administrative services, which make for their part left the tertiary sector. Traditional examples of the business schools are the old marks Téléavia and Caravanair, difficult to charge to one of the sectors rather than to the other.

Sometimes one speaks about “quaternary sector ” which would gather industries hi-tech , (data-processing technologies, Aérospatiale (launching of satellites), bioindustrie, etc) and the services very sophisticated (search and education for point, strategic council, financial engineering, medicine of point, etc) generally for the most industrialized countries (the United States, European Union, Japan, etc).

Nomenclatures

  • the Nomenclatures of the economic sectors

  • the alphabetical nomenclature of the French activities (NAF) and by code

See too

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