Labor Theory Research Articles

The traditional theory application in recognition of ownership to virtual assets

The significant advances of the Internet have made cyberspace develop similarly to physical space. Although the architecture of cyberspace has an automated function, there still exists a need for state management in some cases, especially with the advent and increasing popularity of virtual asset classes. Virtual assets have the characteristics of a regular asset class, such as competition, persistence, and interconnectedness. Treating virtual items the same way as real-world assets would be logical, which This means that virtual assets can also be considered for ownership. However, traditional theories face many difficulties when applied to the virtual world in solving the problem of recording ownership of virtual assets. The article analyzes the content of popular approaches used as the basis for claiming ownership of virtual assets, including John Locke's labor value theory, Hegel's personality theory, and Bentham's pragmatism. At the same time, the article also points out the limitations and unconvincing results of applying these traditional theories to recording ownership of virtual assets. The virtual world is not the natural world for the mere application of John Locke's labor philosophy. Applying Hegel's personality theory leads to other complex operations, including identifying virtual assets. Recognizing ownership of virtual assets does not necessarily create optimal value for Bentham's pragmatist society. Therefore, recognizing ownership rights for virtual assets needs further research on the rationale.

Aesthetic Labor in Service Work: The Breakthroughs, Debates and Future

Aesthetic labor refers to the process in which workers’ appearances make the core of employability. After two decades of development, the theory has yielded outstanding theoretical and empirical achievements. The review briefly investigates the trajectory of the construction, the debates, and the unfinished agenda of aesthetic labor. Introduced at the dawn of the 21st century, aesthetic labor ambitiously re-conceptualizes the emotional labor paradigm by accentuating the role “looking good and sounding right” plays in the new economy. It challenges the analytic frame of emotional labor by foregrounding the importance of corporeal attributes and the embodied dispositions of workers during service encounters. However, the theory is also challenged for its dominating feminist scope and the one-sided accentuation of the dysfunctions of society. A growing volume of research has diverted the attention on the experiences of male workers in aesthetic labor, and some, at the same time, are attempting to justify the prevalence of aesthetic labor by examining the agency of workers during the labor process. Comparative case studies, as well as the scope of cultural approach, are considered two promising research methodologies for aesthetic labor studies. Although the pursuit of beauty has always accompanied human development, the value of a “good look” has never been more prominent in our age. The booming of beauty industries such as make-up, modeling, and fashion has witnessed how a desirable physical appearance helps countless men and women ascend the social ladder from almost the bottom to the top. An increasing volume of literature focuses on the phenomenon, among which the term “aesthetic labor” stands out as one of the most influential theories that capture the characteristic of occupations based on the never-ending polishment of physical appearance. After two decades of development, the theory of aesthetic labor has stimulated volumes of research examining the role of the body and physical beauty in interactive service work. The review essay aims to sketch the breakthroughs that the theory have made, the debates centered on the theory and the future directions that might fill the gap

Research on the Derivative Rule and Estimation Methods of Intelligent High-Speed Railway Investment Estimation

Taking the investment estimation of intelligent construction of high-speed railway as the research object, based on the historical data of investment of similar high-speed railway projects, this paper builds an explanatory structure model, establishes an system dynamic (SD) model of investment estimation of intelligent construction of high-speed railway, and puts forward suggestions for supplementing the labor value theory and improving the value-added tax. The paper carries out in-depth research and analysis in the following aspects: 1) the list of influencing factors for investment estimation of intelligent construction of high-speed railway in the feasibility study stage is constructed, and the interpretative structural model (ISM) is constructed to sort out the relationship between the influencing factors; 2) the SD model of intelligent construction cost estimation of high-speed railway is established to improve the accuracy of investment estimation of intelligent high-speed railway construction; 3) put forward suggestions and schemes for improving investment estimation content of intelligent construction of high-speed railway under high intelligence; 4) improve and supplement the labor value theory and the value-added tax base.

Two Sides of the Coin -- Matching the Value Theory of Labor and Marginal Utility in a Marshall Equilibrium

Two Sides of the Coin -- Matching the Value Theory of Labor and Marginal Utility in a Marshall Equilibrium

Nation versus State: A Comparative Inquiry into A. D. Gordon’s and Hannah Arendt’s Social and Political Thought and Their Views of the Jewish State

Abstract: The paper offers a first comparison and critical review of the social and political theories of German-Jewish political thinker Hannah Arendt and Russian-born Zionist thinker Aaron David (A. D.) Gordon. Bringing these two thinkers into conversation sheds light on their distinctive human ontologies and competing theories of labor that led them, in turn, to critically assess modern politics. Subsequently, the analysis identifies the two thinkers’ opposing conceptual trajectories as underpinning their competing perspectives on the Jewish state. Whereas Arendt’s commitment to upholding neutral political spaces led her to call for safeguarding the state from the Jewish nation, Gordon’s view of nations as corporeal-organic entities led him to advocate securing the Jewish nation from statist institutions. In broader terms, the analysis seeks to add to the burgeoning literature in recent years that revisits the theoretical and ideological parameters conventionally understood as underlying the historical debate about the Jewish state. The analysis shows that whereas Gordon, as a Zionist thinker, set forth an antistatist doctrine, the non-Zionist Arendt assigned a key role to the state in securing Jewish national self-determination.

Audre Lorde, Labor Theorist: Rethinking Integrity within Late Capitalism

Abstract: Audre Lorde’s work is most often read for her insights in the fields of gender, sexuality, and critical race theory, and while her work certainly merits close attention for its groundbreaking contributions to these fields, I will suggest here that her work can also be productively read as a significant contribution to literary labor theory. Reading Lorde as a labor theorist enables a holistic understanding of the complete nexus of race, gender, sexuality, and class as the materialist manifestation of the underlying capitalistic abstraction of the self of the worker. I will argue that for Lorde, ultimately, woman is one who works, and this underlies her overarching conceptualization of integrity, a radical notion of wholeness that is based in the fullness of women’s labor (often social justice labor). This materialist idea functions as a radical alternative to capitalist alienation, and specifically combats the privilege of white feminism, and other bourgeois power inequalities. Lorde’s conceptualization of the working woman of color is truly world-making. It is sensuous and holistic (in a way that the abstraction of capitalism is demonstratively not), and it is a specifically non-white, lesbian labor that effects this. Lorde’s “integrity” is a way of reuniting the subject and object (à la Marx’s “species being”) within the figure of the woman who works. What that looks like, in our political reality, is active social justice work, done—and lived—with integrity.

“Political Anatomy” and the Idea of Public Wealth from William Petty to Adam Smith

Inthe article, the author attempts to solve three interrelated problems. First, by offering new readings of key texts authored by leading British thinkers and representatives of different strands of seventeenth-century economic thought, she explores the emergence of the labour theory of value in the intellectual context of the seventeenth-century scientific revolution and under the influence of its inspirer, Francis Bacon. Secondly, the author raises the question of the exact form in which the idea of labour as the source and foundation of social wealth, expressed by William Petty, an active critic of the doctrine of mercantilism and one of the founding fathers of English political economy, was initially embodied, as well as the “art of numbers” – quantitative methods of economic and demographic statistics, in his first economic work – “A Treatise on Taxes and Contributions”, published in 1662. Thirdly, the author examines and evaluates the economic ideas and proposals of William Petty and his associates as an integral part of their political views and ideas about “social wealth” and the importance of scientific knowledge for the improvement of public administration. She pays particular attention to the connection between the economic views of William Petty, a major Irish landowner, as set out in “The Political Anatomy of Ireland”, “A Treatise on Ireland,1687”, and other statistical works, and George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, with the assessment of the prospects for the development and future arrangement of Ireland, as well as with proposals for the unification of the two and even all three Kingdoms.

Labor theory of the origin of the language: Friedrich Engels, Ludwig Noiré, Nikolai Marr

The article is devoted to the analysis of three conceptions of glottogenesis, which are combined into one direction, that is the theory of the labor origin of the language. The purpose of the author is to prove the relevance of this theory for modern science. The concept of Friedrich Engels on the role of labor in the process of anthropogenesis and the tool conception of the origin of the language of Ludwig Noiré were developed around the same time, however, if the first became widely known much later, then the second remained little known. These two versions of the principle of the labor origin of the language had a strong influence on the formation of “New doctrine of language” of Nikolai Marr. An important part of this conception was the complex and controversial concept of the origin of the language. It was based on the hypothesis of the era of manual language and on the hypothesis of the decisive role of tools in the formation of sound language and logical thinking. The main drawback of the conception of Nikolai Marr was its inconsistency due to the fact that the scientist, without any evidence, introduced into his theory the principles of “labor-magic activity” and the four primary elements of language (SAL, BER, JON, ROŠ). According to the author of the article, all three conceptions, taken both separately and together, in their unity have not lost interest and relevance not only for modern linguistics, but also for socio-political science in general.

Conceptualising multispecies collaboration: Work, animal labour, and Nature‐based Solutions

AbstractTracing the story of beaver restoration across California, this paper investigates the emerging discourse of ‘working with nature’ through the lens of animal work and labour, exploring possibilities for, multispecies collaboration. At the intersection of animal geographies, environmental anthropology, and geographies of conservation, this paper finds three concurrent modes of working with beaver: beaver as labourer, beaver as coworker, and beaver as community. Beaver as labourer emerges as a mode where beavers go from material resource to low‐wage labourer, their liveliness predicated on their ability to be working for humans. Beaver as coworker transitions beavers from labourers to workers, respected for their skills as ecosystem engineers to be working with. Beaver as community emerges as a mode in which beavers and humans live with each other as kin, amidst wider multispecies assemblages. This mode sets the foundation to theorise the concept of multispecies collaboration, a term often used in the literature without definition. This paper explores the concept through theories of animal work and labour, challenging the premise of work altogether, while situating multispecies collaboration as an in‐between, a both/and space of working and living with ‘nature’. This paper serves as an reflection on the ways in which humans ‘work with nature’, in a time where various nonhumans are being made to be ‘workers’. It presents and analyses these relations, ruminates on implications for governance of these multispecies spaces, and develops the concept of multispecies collaboration as a critical consideration for Nature‐based Solutions.

Criticism of the labor theory of value: A new look at the old controversy

The article is devoted to the critique of K. Marx’s labor theory of value, which was started in 1884 by F. G. Wicksteed. This polemic is based on a misunderstanding of the scientific abstraction method and the dialectics of Marx. His opponents critisize Marx for not using the notion of “abstract utility”. It is shown why the exchange value of goods should be based on socially necessary labor costs. The subjective utility value is not suitable to determine the proportions of exchange.

ПРО ЗАГАЛЬНУ І СПЕЦІАЛЬНІ ТЕОРІЇ ЦІННОСТІ

Ретроспективно розглянуто класичні й новітні концепції і теорії вартості й цінності. Акцентовано на синтетичних і фундаментальних розробках, необхідності їх розвитку з огляду на випереджальну експансію сфери олюднення. Висунуто гіпотезу про всезагальність і складність ціннісних відносин. Визначено їх філософсько-загальнонауковий і економічний зміст. Ціннісні відносини (цінність) представлено як складну систему суб’єкт-суб’єктних відносин з приводу взаємопов’язаних і економічно значимих для суб’єктів відповідностей: а) між суб’єктивним образом реального об’єкта й самим реальним об’єктом, у тому числі між різними елементами першого, з одного боку, і різними елементами останнього – з іншого; б) між різними елементами суб’єктивного образа реального об’єкта; в) між різними елементами реального об’єкта. Зазначена система є ядром фундаментальної теоретичної моделі (схеми) цінності. Охарактеризовано кориснісну і витратнісну складові цінності, а також тріалектику її загального, особливого й унікального. Загальна складова цінності притаманна всім ерам і епохам розвитку людства, особлива – окремим епохам і сферам діяльності, унікальна – окремим способам виробництва. Розроблено темпоральний простір загальної теорії цінності в координатах результатів діяльності, сфер і атрибутів, вимірів, а також історичних рамок діяльності й цінності. Показано позиціювання в ньому теорії трудової вартості. Розглянуто історичну коеволюцію діяльності й цінності в контексті співіснування та зміни ер і епох розвитку людства. Запропоновано концептуальну і фундаментальну теоретичну схему загальної теорії цінності. Ядра спеціальних теорій цінності набувають статусу часткових теоретичних схем загальної теорії цінності. Зроблено висновок про необхідність каталізації наукових пошуків тих нових спеціальних теорій цінності, які здатні адекватно описати й пояснити ціннісні відносини в олюдненні (опосередкованому, безпосередньому і в цілому), в тому числі у створенні знаннєвих і знаннєво-інформаційних продуктів

Development Path of Labor Education in the Era of Artificial Intelligence in China

This article elucidates the logical relationship between artificial intelligence and the development of labor education in China. Taking the perspective of Marxist labor theory, it points out that the rise of artificial intelligence is an inevitable outcome of the development of social production relations and productivity. It raises new questions and challenges regarding the essence and role of labor. The article emphasizes the new requirements of artificial intelligence for the quality of workers, highlighting new opportunities and challenges for labor education in adapting to future labor market demands, including technological barriers, digital divides, and the innovation of educational systems and institutions.In conclusion, the article proposes a development path for labor education utilizing artificial intelligence technology. It underscores the upgrading of labor education theories, focuses on the application of artificial intelligence technology in labor education practices, and suggests the establishment of a diversified labor education evaluation system. This aims to cultivate students’ innovative practical abilities, emphasizing interdisciplinary integration and collaborative mechanisms to collectively promote the development of labor education.

Efficiency Wage Hypothesis—The Case of Pakistan

The goal of this section is to point out the observed difficulties with the classical/neoclassical theory of labour markets. According to classical and neoclassical economics, the labour market is a market like any other market. The equilibrium wage is determined by the intersection of the supply and demand for labour.

Emotional labor, occupational identity and work engagement in Portuguese police officers

Based on emotional labor theory, we aim to study the relationships between the dimensions of emotional labor (requirements and strategies), work engagement, and occupational identity in Portuguese police officers. Therefore, we intend to explore the possible effects of emotional labor both on work engagement and occupational identity, as well as ways of preventing and/or mitigating the impact of these relationships. We identified a gap in the studies on this subject in Portugal, particularly in the context of police professionals. Thus, a sample of 924 Portuguese police officers of the Public Security Police (PSP) was asked to answer a set of questionnaires: the Emotional Labour Scale, the Emotion Work Requirements Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and the Social Identity Scale. The data obtained was analyzed using correlation and multiple linear regression. Overall, the results revealed relationships between the emotional demands (i.e., suppression of negative emotions and expression of positive emotions) and strategies (i.e., deep and surface acting) of emotional labor and work engagement as well as occupational identity. We discuss these results and propose directions for future research, given the richness of the subject.

The influence of differential leadership and proactive personality on employee in-role performance: An integrated model.

Differential leadership does not necessarily bring only negative effects, as it may also become an incentive management strategy. This study explores whether outsiders can actively become insiders through proactive personality traits, or whether they can actively approach resource controllers to remove obstacles at work and enhance their performance in a Chinese cultural setting. A stratified random sampling method was used. The sample objects were medical staff from hospitals in the six urban districts of Beijing. In 2021, a total of 900 online questionnaires were distributed. 524 valid questionnaires were recovered. The results show that differential leadership, defined as favoritism towards insiders and prejudice against outsiders, can cause changes in employees' sense of organizational justice and in-role performance. Meanwhile, by introducing 'proactive personality' as an independent variable that also acts as a moderator, our study confirms that, under differential leadership, employees with a proactive personality can actively improve situational barriers and have better work performance. Our research offers managers the following advice: First, it is better to look not only at relationships, but also to understand an employee's personality characteristics, whether it has a superficial or deep role at work, in order to reduce the turnover rate and to raise productivity. Second, it is important to teach employees to serve customers with a sincere appreciation of their point of view, rather than focusing on presenting an outward appearance of friendliness. This paper contributes to the theory of proactive personality, emotional labor, and differential leadership. Contrary to previous studies, our research has used 'proactive personality' as both a distractor and a predictor at the same time. Also, insiders favored by leaders are not found to perform better at work.

Exchange Rate Determinants of the US Dollar and Chinese RMB: a Classical Political Economics Approach

This paper contributes to the literature on determining the real exchange rates by developing a model that is based on key propositions of the classical political economy within which the real competition governs domestic and international trade, the labor theory of value is underneath domestic and international prices and, under these conditions, the principle of absolute cost advantage shapes international trade. The econometric analysis shows that the relative real unit labor cost is a key regulator of the long-run behavior of real exchange rates in both, China and the USA, for the period 1982-2018.

A model of values and prices based on a solution to the transformation problem

This article presents a comprehensive values and prices formation model based on Marx’s (1992, 1993) labor theory of value within a Temporal Single-System Interpretation (TSSI) framework. This model bases on a new interpretation of the Marxian Fundamental Theorem (FMT) and the Monetary Expression of Labor Time (MELT). If the modification in the dialectical sequence of the formation of the categories and the introduction of the dual determination of socially necessary labor time are accepted, the transformation problem encounters solution in the interpretation of Carchedi and de Haan (1996). Likewise, contemporary approaches reveal the need for a redefinition of key categories of the Marxist labor theory of value to develop a logically coherent model. Thus, the proposed model includes the dimension of the realization problem that commodities face in the market and introduce analytical categories for both production and realization periods. Finally, value category is redefined.

Unfree Labour and Value Productivity: Challenges for the Marxian Labour Theory of Value

Abstract This paper explores the question: does unfree labour produce value? The paper does not answer the question. Rather, it contends that, no matter how Marxists answer the question, they end up either (1) relinquishing the view that labour is the only source of value or (2) appealing to an apparently bogus distinction in order to hang on to the view. Both of these alternatives will be unacceptable to the orthodox Marxian economist. For the choice is between jettisoning the labour theory of value and thus giving up on Marxian orthodoxy, or else frankly conceding that one’s orthodoxy is baseless and dogmatic.

Rostek, Joanna. Women’s Economic Thought in the Romantic Age: Towards a Transdisciplinary Herstory of Economic Thought

Rostek, Joanna. <i>Women’s Economic Thought in the Romantic Age: Towards a Transdisciplinary Herstory of Economic Thought</i>

Analysis on the sustainable realization path of natural resource asset value

Based on Marx’s labor theory of value, this paper explains the connotation of the new era of the theory of “two mountains” and its value to the assets of natural resources. The present path carries on the theoretical analysis, uses the case analysis method, the qualitative research method, analyzes the path to realize the value of natural resource assets and the problems faced in the operation process of the “forest ecological bank” operation mode, probes into the natural resources asset value sustainable realization path. The results show that the operation mode of “forest ecological bank” is based on ecological resources, through accurate investigation, on the premise of defining the property rights of ecological resources, using economic methods to calculate its value, directly or indirectly using ownership transactions, ecological service transactions, industrialization and other ways to monetize ecological products. Therefore, we should establish the property right system of market-oriented ecological factors, introduce the main body of market management to develop ecological industry, and establish a “public-private partnership” ecological product trading system, so as to promote the sustainable realization of the value of natural resources assets.