Did Marx Have a Labour Theory of Value?

Cockshott, Paul

doi:10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.10.1.0069

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Volume 10, Issue 1

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Did Marx Have a Labour Theory of Value?

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research-article

Author(s): Paul Cockshott

Publication date (Print): 1 April 2019

Journal: World Review of Political Economy

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: labour value, Marx, Ricardo

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Abstract

It has long been accepted that Marx was a follower of the labour theory of value. This position has recently been challenged by Harvey. This paper shows that the essential basis of Marx's value theory remained labour and that it did not differ substantially from that of Ricardo. It also references data showing the empirical validity of the theory and presents example data from the UK 1998 input output table showing how closely monetary output shadows labour content.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50005553

Journal ID (jcode): worlrevipoliecon

Title: World Review of Political Economy

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN: 2042-891X

ISSN: 2042-8928

Publication date (Print): 1 April 2019

Volume: 10

Issue: 1 ( doiID: 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.10.issue-1 )

Pages: 69-84

Article

Publisher ID: worlrevipoliecon.10.1.0069

DOI: 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.10.1.0069

SO-VID: af15ae61-7524-472e-935d-3e8fa7148ce8

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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lang eng

ScienceOpen disciplines: Political economics

Keywords: Ricardo,labour value,Marx

References

Capek, K. (1923) 1999. Rossum's Universal Robots. New York: Doubleday.
Cockshott, P. 2002. “Vector Pascal Reference Manual.” SIGPLAN Not 37 (6): 59-81.
Cockshott, P., and A. Cottrell. 1997a. “Labour Time versus Alternative Value Bases: A Research Note.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 21 (4): 545-549.
Cockshott, P., and A. Cottrell. 1997b. “The Scientific Status of the Labour Theory of Value.” Paper Submitted to IWGVT Conference at the Eastern Economic Association Meeting in April.
Cockshott, P., and A. Cottrell. 1998. “Does Marx Need to Transform?” Marxian Economics: A Reappraisal 2: 70-85.
Cockshott, P., A. Cottrell, and G. Michaelson. 1995. “Testing Marx: Some New Results from UK Data.” Capital & Class 19 (1): 103-130.
Cockshott, P., and G. Michaelson. 2006. “Orthogonal Parallel Processing in Vector Pascal.” Computer Languages, Systems & Structures 32 (1): 2-41.
Farjoun, E., and M. Machover. 1983. Laws of Chaos, a Probabilistic Approach to Political Economy. London: Verso.
Fröhlich, N. 2013. “Labour Values, Prices of Production and the Missing Equalisation Tendency of Profit Rates: Evidence from the German Economy.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 37 (5): 1107-1126.
Gintis, H., and S. Bowles. 1981. “Structure and Practice in the Labor Theory of Value.” Review of Radical Political Economics 12 (4): 1-26.
Harvey, D. 2018. “Marx's Refusal of the Labour Theory of Value.” Accessed July 2, 2018. http://davidharvey.org/2018/03/marxs-refusal-of-the-labour-theory-of-value-by-david-harvey/.
Jevons, W. S. 1866. “Brief Account of a General Mathematical Theory of Political Economy.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 9: 282-287.
Jevons, W. S. (1871) 2013. Theory of Political Economy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kliman, A. J. 2002. “The Law of Value and Laws of Statistics: Sectoral Values and Prices in the US Economy, 1977-97.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 26 (3): 299-311.
Marx, K. (1867) 1954. Capital, vol. 1. Moscow: Progress Publishers.
Marx, K. (1894) 1971. Capital, vol. 3. Moscow: Progress Publishers.
Marx, K. 1910. Value, Price, and Profit. Chicago: C. H. Kerr.
Meek, R. L. 1956. Studies in the Labor Theory of Value, vol. 428. New York: New York University Press.
Ochoa, E. M. 1989. “Values, Prices, and Wage-Profit Curves in the US Economy.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 13 (3): 413-429.
Petrovic, P. 1987. “The Deviation of Production Prices from Labour Values: Some Methodology and Empirical Evidence.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 11 (3): 197-210.
Ricardo, D. 1821. Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. London: Murray.
Shaikh, A. M. 1998. “The Empirical Strength of the Labour Theory of Value.” In Marxian Economics: A Reappraisal, vol. 2, edited by R. Bellofiore, 225-251. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Shaikh, A. M. 2016. Capitalism, Competition, Conflict, Crises. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Smith, A. 1974. The Wealth of Nations. London: Penguin Books.
Tsoulfidis, L., and D. Paitaridis. 2016. “Monetary Expressions of Labor Time and Market Prices: Theory and Evidence from China, Japan and Korea.” Review of Political Economy 29 (1): 111-132.
Turing, A. 1937. “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem.” Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 42: 230-265.
Turing, A. 1950. “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” Mind 49: 433-460.
Turing, A. 2004. “Lecture on the Automatic Computing Engine in 1947.” In The Essential Turing, edited by B. J. Copeland, 362-394. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zachariah, D. 2004. “Testing the Labor Theory of Value in Sweden.” Accessed July 2, 2018. http://reality.gn.apc.org/econ/DZ_article1.pdf.
Zachariah, D. 2006. “Labour Value and Equalisation of Profit Rates.” Indian Development Review 4 (1): 1-21.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Capek, K. (1923) 1999. Rossum's Universal Robots. New York: Doubleday.

[2] Cockshott, P. 2002. “Vector Pascal Reference Manual.” SIGPLAN Not 37 (6): 59-81.

[3] Cockshott, P., and A. Cottrell. 1997a. “Labour Time versus Alternative Value Bases: A Research Note.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 21 (4): 545-549.

[4] Cockshott, P., and A. Cottrell. 1997b. “The Scientific Status of the Labour Theory of Value.” Paper Submitted to IWGVT Conference at the Eastern Economic Association Meeting in April.

[5] Cockshott, P., and A. Cottrell. 1998. “Does Marx Need to Transform?” Marxian Economics: A Reappraisal 2: 70-85.

[6] Cockshott, P., A. Cottrell, and G. Michaelson. 1995. “Testing Marx: Some New Results from UK Data.” Capital & Class 19 (1): 103-130.

[7] Cockshott, P., and G. Michaelson. 2006. “Orthogonal Parallel Processing in Vector Pascal.” Computer Languages, Systems & Structures 32 (1): 2-41.

[8] Farjoun, E., and M. Machover. 1983. Laws of Chaos, a Probabilistic Approach to Political Economy. London: Verso.

[9] Fröhlich, N. 2013. “Labour Values, Prices of Production and the Missing Equalisation Tendency of Profit Rates: Evidence from the German Economy.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 37 (5): 1107-1126.

[10] Gintis, H., and S. Bowles. 1981. “Structure and Practice in the Labor Theory of Value.” Review of Radical Political Economics 12 (4): 1-26.

[11] Harvey, D. 2018. “Marx's Refusal of the Labour Theory of Value.” Accessed July 2, 2018. http://davidharvey.org/2018/03/marxs-refusal-of-the-labour-theory-of-value-by-david-harvey/.

[12] Jevons, W. S. 1866. “Brief Account of a General Mathematical Theory of Political Economy.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 9: 282-287.

[13] Jevons, W. S. (1871) 2013. Theory of Political Economy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

[14] Kliman, A. J. 2002. “The Law of Value and Laws of Statistics: Sectoral Values and Prices in the US Economy, 1977-97.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 26 (3): 299-311.

[15] Marx, K. (1867) 1954. Capital, vol. 1. Moscow: Progress Publishers.

[16] Marx, K. (1894) 1971. Capital, vol. 3. Moscow: Progress Publishers.

[17] Marx, K. 1910. Value, Price, and Profit. Chicago: C. H. Kerr.

[18] Meek, R. L. 1956. Studies in the Labor Theory of Value, vol. 428. New York: New York University Press.

[19] Ochoa, E. M. 1989. “Values, Prices, and Wage-Profit Curves in the US Economy.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 13 (3): 413-429.

[20] Petrovic, P. 1987. “The Deviation of Production Prices from Labour Values: Some Methodology and Empirical Evidence.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 11 (3): 197-210.

[21] Ricardo, D. 1821. Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. London: Murray.

[22] Shaikh, A. M. 1998. “The Empirical Strength of the Labour Theory of Value.” In Marxian Economics: A Reappraisal, vol. 2, edited by R. Bellofiore, 225-251. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

[23] Shaikh, A. M. 2016. Capitalism, Competition, Conflict, Crises. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[24] Smith, A. 1974. The Wealth of Nations. London: Penguin Books.

[25] Tsoulfidis, L., and D. Paitaridis. 2016. “Monetary Expressions of Labor Time and Market Prices: Theory and Evidence from China, Japan and Korea.” Review of Political Economy 29 (1): 111-132.

[26] Turing, A. 1937. “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem.” Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society 42: 230-265.

[27] Turing, A. 1950. “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” Mind 49: 433-460.

[28] Turing, A. 2004. “Lecture on the Automatic Computing Engine in 1947.” In The Essential Turing, edited by B. J. Copeland, 362-394. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[29] Zachariah, D. 2004. “Testing the Labor Theory of Value in Sweden.” Accessed July 2, 2018. http://reality.gn.apc.org/econ/DZ_article1.pdf.

[30] Zachariah, D. 2006. “Labour Value and Equalisation of Profit Rates.” Indian Development Review 4 (1): 1-21.