IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/43780.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Plusvalore e sfruttamento dopo Sraffa. Lo stato del problema
[Surplus Value and Exploitation After Sraffa: The State of the Problem]

Author

Listed:
  • Cavalieri, Duccio

Abstract

This article deals with a theoretical point: the alleged consistency of the Marxian notion of exploitation with the Sraffian theory of prices. The problem is examined in a historico-critical perspective. The discussion is centred on the idea that in a circular model of production with vertically integrated sectors the use of the real wage rate as a numeraire provides a way of measuring surplus labour as a difference between the quantity of labour commanded by a real wage unit, at prices of production, and the quantity embodied in the amount of any commodity which would exchange at such prices with the wage unit. This procedure runs against two basic objections. First, by concentrating the attention on the possibility of substituting wage-goods for labour in the process of price determination, it implies a loss of the fundamental Marxian distinction between abstract labour, considered as a source of value, and labour-power, a commodity. Only the latter dimension remains relevant. Second, the sectoral rates of surplus value defined in such a way are "natural" rates, with a purely notional character.

Suggested Citation

  • Cavalieri, Duccio, 1995. "Plusvalore e sfruttamento dopo Sraffa. Lo stato del problema [Surplus Value and Exploitation After Sraffa: The State of the Problem]," MPRA Paper 43780, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:43780
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/43780/1/MPRA_paper_43780.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samuelson, Paul, 2012. "Understanding the Marxian Notion of Exploitation: A Summary of the So-CalledTransformation Problem Between Marxian Values and Competitive Prices," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, pages 182-202, August.
    2. Steedman, Ian, 1975. "Positive Profits with Negative Surplus Value," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 85(337), pages 114-123, March.
    3. Duncan K. Foley, 1982. "The Value of Money the Value of Labor Power and the Marxian Transformation Problem," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 37-47, June.
    4. Lipietz, Alain, 1982. "The so-called "transformation problem" revisited," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 59-88, February.
    5. Wolfstetter, E, 1973. "Surplus Labour, Synchronised Labor Costs and Marx's Labour Theory of Value," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 83(331), pages 787-809, September.
    6. Steedman, Ian, 1976. "Positive Profits with Negative Surplus Value: A Reply," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 86(343), pages 604-608, September.
    7. Samuelson, Paul A, 1974. "Insight and Detour in the Theory of Exploitation: A Reply to Baumol," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 62-70, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stefano Perri, 2003. "The Counterfactual Method of Marx's Theory of Surplus," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 107-124.
    2. Jonathan F Cogliano, 2023. "Marx’s equalised rate of exploitation," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 47(1), pages 133-169.
    3. Jonathan F. Cogliano, 2017. "Surplus Value Production and Realization in Marxian Theory - Applications to the U.S., 1987-2015," Working Paper Series 2017-01, Dickinson College, Department of Economics.
    4. Roberto Veneziani & Naoki Yoshihara, 2010. "Exploitation and Profits: A General Axiomatic Approach in Convex Economies with Heterogeneous Agents," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2010-12, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    5. Roberto Veneziani & Luca Zamparelli & Simon Mohun & Roberto Veneziani, 2017. "Value, Price, And Exploitation: The Logic Of The Transformation Problem," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1387-1420, December.
    6. Freeman, Alan, 2017. "Introduction to Michel Husson's 'Value and price: a critique of neo-Ricardian claims'," MPRA Paper 89949, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Oct 2017.
    7. Eckhard Hein, 2005. "Money, Interest, and Capital Accumulation in Karl Marx’s," Method and Hist of Econ Thought 0501002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Mariolis, Theodore, 2010. "Κριτική Έκθεση του "Νόμου της Πτωτικής Τάσης του Ποσοστού Κέρδους" του K. Marx: Κατανομή Εισοδήματος, Επισώρευση Κεφαλαίου και Τεχνολογική Μεταβολή στη Μακρά Περίοδο [Critical Exposition ," MPRA Paper 22461, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Michael De Vroey, 1988. "La teoría marxista del valor: Balance crítico de los debates recientes," Lecturas de Economía, Universidad de Antioquia, Departamento de Economía, issue 27, pages 73-110.
    10. Fred Moseley, 2000. "The "New Solution" to the Transformation Problem: A Sympathetic Critique," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 282-316, June.
    11. Andrew Kliman & Ted McGlone, 1999. "A Temporal Single-system Interpretation of Marx's Value Theory," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 33-59.
    12. Riccardo Bellofiore & Guglielmo Forges Davanzati & Riccardo Realfonzo, 2000. "Marx Inside the Circuit: Discipline device, wage bargaining and unemployment in a sequential monetary economy," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 403-417.
    13. Dominique Levy & Gérard Dumenil, 1982. "Valeurs et prix de production. Le cas des productions jointes," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 33(1), pages 30-70.
    14. Naoki Yoshihara, 2021. "On the labor theory of value as the basis for the analysis of economic inequality in the capitalist economy," Japanese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2-3), pages 190-212, July.
    15. Yoshihara, Naoki, 2010. "Class and exploitation in general convex cone economies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 281-296, August.
    16. Mariolis, Theodore & Soklis, George, 2014. "The Sraffian Multiplier for the Greek Economy: Evidence from the Supply and Use Table for the Year 2010," MPRA Paper 60253, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Gabriel Montes-Rojas, 2017. "A Capital Invariant Solution to the Marxian Transformation Problem," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 49(1), pages 114-124, March.
    18. Angelo Reati, 2005. "Value and exploitation: a comment," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 609-617.
    19. Alan Freeman, 1998. "A General Refutation of Okishio’s Theorem and a Proof of the Falling Rate of Profit," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Riccardo Bellofiore (ed.), Marxian Economics: A Reappraisal, chapter 10, pages 139-162, Palgrave Macmillan.
    20. Mariolis, Theodore, 2006. "A Critical Note on Marx’s Theory of Profits," MPRA Paper 24044, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    value; surplus value; exploitation; Marx; Sraffa; vertical integration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian
    • B10 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - General
    • B14 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist
    • A10 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - General
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:43780. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.