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Representing the production and circulation of commodities in material terms: On Sraffa's objectivism

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  • Heinz Kurz
  • Neri Salvadori

Abstract

The paper discusses Sraffa's interpretation of the classical economists and, following their lead, his elaboration of an objectivist, surplus-based theory of value and distribution. The emphasis is on the twin concepts of physical real costs and social surplus on the one hand and that of a circular flow of production on the other. In order to determine relative prices within such an analytical scheme, the tool of simultaneous equations is indispensable. It is then argued that fixed capital turned out to be a formidable obstacle: whereas the circulating part of capital allows one to entertain the idea of a material-cum-value transmigration into the product, this idea loses much of its appeal with regard to the durable part. Sraffa eventually overcame the difficulty in terms of the joint-products approach.

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  • Heinz Kurz & Neri Salvadori, 2005. "Representing the production and circulation of commodities in material terms: On Sraffa's objectivism," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 413-441.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:17:y:2005:i:3:p:413-441
    DOI: 10.1080/09538250500147189
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Enrico Bellino, 2018. "Viability, reproducibility and returns in production price systems," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 35(3), pages 845-861, December.
    2. Lee, Frederic & Jo, Tae-Hee, 2010. "Heterodox production and cost theory of the business enterprise," MPRA Paper 27635, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Antonio D'Agata, 2021. "Normative (and objective) analysis in Sraffa's system," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 635-648, July.
    4. Saverio M. Fratini, 2018. "Theories of Value and Ultimate Standards in Sraffa’s Notes of Summer 1927," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 12(1-2), pages 35-53, June.
    5. Attilio Trezzini, 2018. "Piero Sraffa’s Use of the History of Economic Thought in the Cambridge Lectures," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 4(1), pages 189-209, March.
    6. Pierangelo Garegnani, 2024. "On a Turning Point in Sraffa’s Theoretical and Interpretative Position in the Late 1920s," Springer Studies in the History of Economic Thought, in: Roberto Ciccone (ed.), Capital Theory, the Surplus Approach, and Effective Demand, pages 491-525, Springer.
    7. Rosselli, Annalisa & Trabucchi, Paolo, 2019. "Sraffa, the ‘marginal’ method and change," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 334-340.
    8. Saverio M Fratini, 2018. "Sraffa on the degeneration of the notion of cost [The ultimate standard of value]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(3), pages 817-836.
    9. Pier Luigi Porta, 2013. "What remains of Sraffa's economics," Working Papers 242, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised May 2013.
    10. Fratini, Saverio M., 2019. "Theories of value and ultimate standards in Sraffa's notes of summer 1927," MPRA Paper 91728, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Padellini, Mauro, 2022. "Cost coverage in subsistence production and in surplus production," MPRA Paper 113374, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Alessandro Le Donne, 2022. "Quale Marx? A partire da una rilettura di Marx e gli economisti classici di Pierangelo Garegnani (Which Marx? A discussion from a re-reading of Marx and the classical economists by Pierangelo Garegnan," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 75(299), pages 327-338.
    13. Naldi, Nerio, 2018. "On the Origins of Piero Sraffa’s Equations. New Evidence Following Pierangelo Garegnani’s Lead," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP33, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    14. Heinz Kurz & Neri Salvadori, 2005. "Removing an 'insuperable obstacle' in the way of an objectivist analysis: Sraffa's attempts at fixed capital," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 493-523.
    15. Kurz, Heinz D., 2006. "The agents of production are the commodities themselves: On the classical theory of production, distribution and value," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 1-26, January.
    16. Trezzini, Attilio, 2019. "Sraffa on Marshall's Theory of Value in the Cambridge Lectures: Achievements in an Unfinished Criticism," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP34, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    17. Lee, Frederic, 2011. "Heterodox surplus approach: production, prices, and value theory," MPRA Paper 31824, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Ginzburg, Andrea, 2014. "Two translators: Gramsci and Sraffa," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP1, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    19. Kurz, Heinz D. & Salvadori, Neri, 2023. "Marx's concept of “exploitation” and the problem of measurement," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 887-896.

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