Unproductive Labour Research Articles

Unproductive Labor and the Rate of Profit: A Reply to Cullenberg's Comment

Unproductive Labor and the Rate of Profit: A Reply to Cullenberg's Comment

The falling rate of profit in the postwar United States economy

Part 1 Marx's theory of the falling rate of profit: increase in the composition of capital? - definition of the composition of capital theory of the tendency to increase composition of capital increase faster than the rate of surplus-value? - Marx's argument formal model with a constant real wage formal model with an increasing real wage Okishio's theorem - the theorem, criticisms, evaluation. Part 2 Conceptual issues in the estimation of the Marxian variables: money or units non-capitalist production non-production capital (productive labour/unproductive labour) residential housing taxes on wages recent criticisms of Marx's concepts of productive and unproductive labour. Part 3 Estimates of the Marxian variables for the postwar US economy: rate of surplus-value - composition of capital technical composition of capital value composition of capital organic composition of capital distribution of capital across industries turnover time of capital multiple shifts rate of comparison with Weisskopf's estimates comparison with Wolff's estimates estimates of the Marxian variables, 1977-87. Part 4 The decline of the conventional rate of profit: profit squeeze explanations Weisskopf - rising strength of labour Wolff - slower productivity growth summary Marxian explanation - Marxian theory of the conventional rate of estimates of the Marxian determinants share of empirical test. Part 5 The causes of the increase of unproductive labour: detailed estimates of unproductive commercial financial finance insurance and real estate supervision - causes of increases effects of increase conclusions. Part 6 Conclusion: main conclusions further research future trends limits of government policies. Appendices: detailed estimates sources and methods assessment of bias.

Potential Gains through Welded‐Wire Fabric Reinforcement

The proper placement of reinforcing steel for concrete construction requires a high degree of craftsmanship and is traditionally done by hand on the job site. Many recommendations have been published by the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) and related institutes to highlight crucial guidelines for the successful use of reinforcing bars in concrete. However, the traditional sequence for placement of steel reinforcement is the cause of many errors, omissions, and unproductive labor and equipment hours. This paper presents the results of a study that evaluates the use of welded‐steel mesh (WSM), referred to as welded‐wire fabric (WWF) by the American Concrete Institute (ACI), for bridge decks. Several different placement scenarios are discussed together with the potential improvements in productivity. Also addressed are the effects on quality and overall cost when using WWF instead of traditional steel reinforcing bars.

The Decline of the Rate of Profit in the Postwar U.S. Economy: An Alternative Marxian Explanation

This paper presents an explanation of the decline of the rate of profit in the postwar U.S. economy which is based on Marx's distinction between productive labor and unproductive labor. According to this theory, the conventional rate of profit depends on the rate of surplus-value, the composition of capital, and the ratio of unproductive labor to productive labor. Estimates of these variables are presented which suggest that the main cause of the decline of the rate of profit was a very significant increase in the ratio of unproductive labor to productive labor. This explanation is contrasted with the "profit squeeze" explanations presented by Weisskopf and Wolff, and a post-period empirical test is conducted to evaluate the relative predictive ability of these competing explanations. The results of this test suggest that the alternative Marxian explanation presented here is the most consistent with the absence of a significant increase in the rate of profit in the past decade.

AN AGEING POPULATION: BURDEN OR BLESSING?

The net cost to the community of an ageing population is usually overstated for two main reasons: national expenditure reflects costs only within the static framework of national accounts that do not show up separately the demand created by re‐spending: and the bogey of unproductive labour misrepresents the role played by such activities in the economic and social life of the community.

Productive and Unproductive Labor and the Rate of Profit in Malthus, Ricardo, and Marx

A principal objective of Malthus, Ricardo, and Marx was to discover the laws that regulate and limit the growth of the wealth of nations and, in particular, the unprecedented growth of capitalism. The central theme of this paper is that their productive and unproductive labor concepts are critical to understanding their analyses of capitalist growth and the tendency for the rate of profit to fall which regulates and limits this growth. The way in which they identify productive and unproductive labor and how they apply this distinction is critical to understanding the common thread that runs through and marks the differences between them.

Challenging words.

I am writing to challenge certain statements made in Charlotte Aldermans' article 'Unproductive Labour' (Nursing Standard May 21 1988). To quote 'It is now clear that the combined pill is a cause of venous thrombosis and embolism, thrombotic stroke and myocardial infarction.' I would suggest that this situation is still far from 'clear', that the statement has been taken out of context, and as such is alarmist in the extreme. As is: 'the association between pill taking and carcinoma of fhe cervix has been made but is not yet established' - the implication being that this is only a matter of time and as such may also cause considerable anxiety.

The Increase of Unproductive Labor in the Postwar U.S. Economy

The Increase of Unproductive Labor in the Postwar U.S. Economy

Unproductive Labour and Unproductive Consumption: Historical Review, Contemporary Relevance

The welfare of the society…should be measured…by its…condition…its total capital structure, including its human capital, not by its throughput of production and consumption, for the gross national product increasingly includes such unproductive and… ‘maintenance’ items as national defense, …the replacement of unnecessarily shoddy commodities, and so on[3, p. 45].

Estimates of the Rate of Surplus-Value in the Postwar United States Economy

One important prediction of Marx's theory is that the rate of surplus-value will increase as a secular tendency. This paper subjects this prediction of Marx's theory to an empirical test, by deriving annual estimates of the rate of surplus-value in the United States economy over the period 1947-1977. These estimates show that the rate of surplus-value in the United States economy increased significantly over this period, as predicted by Marx's theory. These estimates are then compared with other estimates of the rate of surplus-value in the postwar United States economy which are based on different interpretations of the main theoretical issues involved in the estimation of the rate of surplus-value. This comparison shows that the theoretical issue which makes the most difference in the estimated trend of the rate of surplus-value is whether or not Marx's distinction between productive labor and unproductive labor is taken into account in the definition of the rate of surplus-value.

Productive and Unproductive Labour

When I started to read Ken J. Tarbuck's article, Productive and Unproductive Labour (in SPE 12, Fall 1983), I assumed he was going to deal with the question of how the Marxian distinction between these categories of labour could serve as the basis for a challenge to the vulgar notions (based on the single criterion of whether or not the labour gives rise to profits) being used by ruling classes to accentuate the division between private and public sector workers and justify reductions in (non-defence) state expenditures. As it turned out, the article focused on definitional issues, or, in other words, on what Marx really meant by these categories of labour. The subsequent exchange be-

The consistency of Marx's categories of productive and unproductive labour

The consistency of Marx's categories of productive and unproductive labour

The rate of surplus value in the postwar US economy: a critique of Weisskopf's estimates

The rate of surplus value is one of the three key variables in Marx's theory of capitalist crises, along with the rate of profit and the composition of capital. Marx expected a secular tendency for the rate of surplus value to increase owing to the rise in labour productivity under capitalism. In Marx's theory the necessary condition for an increase in the rate of surplus value is that the productivity of labour increases faster than the average real wage. Marx argued that in general this condition would be fulfilled because of downward pressure on wages exerted by a large and growing 'reserve army' of unem ployed workers (Marx, 1977, chs 17 and 25; Moseley, 1982, ch. 4). Marx argued further that this increase in the rate of surplus value would delay, but not prevent, the tendency of the rate of profit to fall owing to a rise in the composition of capital (Marx, 1982, Part 3). Weisskopf (1979) argued that the profit share of total income is a reasonable proxy for Marx's concept of the rate of surplus value (p. 343). He estimated the profit share in the non-financial corporate business (NFCB) sector of the US economy over the period 1949-1975,1 showing a secular decline of 28% over the period of study (p. 351, Table 2), contrary to Marx's expectation of a secular increase in the rate of surplus value.2 However, there is a fundamental theoretical problem with Weisskopf s estimates, namely that they do not take into account Marx's distinction between productive labour and unproductive labour. A number of authors have argued that Marx's distinction between productive labour and unproductive labour is an integral part of his theory of value and surplus value and that his concepts of surplus value and variable capital, the

A Comment on Productive and Unproductive Labour

Exegesis of Marx's economic theory has been a popular academic pursuit. This is partly due to the difficulty of fully comprehending Marx's complete analysis. However, certain issues in Marxian economic theory have received a considerable amount of scholarly attention, such as the transformation problem, crisis theory, and the distinction between productive and unproductive labour. This last topic, recently discussed by Ken J. Tarbuck in this journal (SPE 12), has been the object of serious and elaborate debate.' In this brief comment I will outline certain fatal flaws in Tarbuck's consideration of the distinction between productive and unproductive labour and then present an alternative definition.

A Comment on Miller’s Comment

Riel Miller says that my distinction between productive labour (PL) and unproductive labour (UPL) turns on two factors: 1) Whether or not employed labour-power creates a 'material' thing, a durable good, and 2) whether or not the 'products' created by workers are exchanged with revenue or Apart from the dangers of compressing a long essay into a couple of lines, such a summary is inadequate since it misses out a third, and equally important, factor, i.e. the use to which products are capable of being put in relation to the whole social capital. That is to say, unless certain products are capable of being used as productive capital on a social scale then the labour embodied within them must count, in certain circumstances, as being unproductive.

Marx: Productive and Unproductive Labour

The question of productive and unproductive labour - the significance and precise meaning of these terms - has been widely discussed in recent years. What at first sight appears to be an abstruse discussion does have profound significance, particularly for the class battles being fought in the advanced capitalist countries.

Scottish Prisons Under the General Board of Directors, 1840–1861

Despite recent interest in both the administration and conditions of prisons in England during the Victorian Period historians have neglected the study of Scottish prisons. It is the intention of this article to redress this omission by assessing the administration of the Scottish penal system between 1840 and 1861 as it developed under the supervision of the General Board of Directors. This Board was equipped with considerable powers over local prisons by the Prisons Act of 1839, and by the time it was replaced by the Managers of Scottish prisons in 1861, it had overseen the completion of an extensive building program to implement the separate system. Working in conjunction with county prison Boards, which had raised the necessary assessments, the Board of Directors attempted to impose uniformity and efficiency in local jails while separately maintaining sole responsibility for the management of the general prison at Perth. This form of administrative structure was unique, and differed from England where local prisons were not brought under close central supervision before 1865.South of the border the Home Office possessed no authority to enforce sanctions, but through the efforts of the prison inspectors appointed in 1835, it persuaded a number of local authorities in England to remodel or rebuild their prisons in conformity to the separate system. Some magistrates resisted the official adoption of designs and rules which often involved large expenditures they were unwilling to impose on the rate payers. Consequently, throughout the period 1835 to 1865, in contrast to the situation in Scotland, local prisons in England were marked by a lack of uniformity in construction, diet, and discipline as standards were often dictated by the views of each prison governor appointed by the magistrates. This “quest” for uniformity continued in 1865 when a Prisons Act required local jails to provide separate cells commensurate with the highest number of prisoners held there, to follow a uniform code of rules, and to enforce hard and unproductive labor. Many magistrates were still able to avoid these regulations and the victory of uniformity came only in 1877 when legislation centralized all prisons in the country and placed them firmly under the control of the Home Office. Scottish prisons had, however, since 1839 experienced some degree of centralized control that had attempted to bring uniform standards to all the jails in the country.

Productive and Unproductive Labor and Marx's Theory of Class

This paper attempts to clarify some of the confusion surrounding Marx's discussion of productive and un productive labor. It begins with a brief exposition of Marx's definitions of these concepts and then moves to a consideration of their more controversial aspects. Par ticular attention is paid to the problem of service workers and commercial wage-labor, and Mandel's and Poulant zas's writings on these subjects are reviewed and criticiz ed. Finally, an attempt is made to situate these concepts in Marx's overall theoretical framework. It is argued that Marx never intended them to be used as the basis for class analysis, and it is suggested that the crucial Marxist con cept for such an analysis is exploitation.

A Mathematical Interpretation of Marxian Unproductive Labour

Marx's theory of unproductive labour is incomprehensible without a proper understanding of his dual theory of value. Hence, the mathematical analysis of his model of value and growth is a useful and instructive investigation. Up to now, however, no attempt has been made to grasp the basic distinction between productive and unproductive labour in terms of matrix algebra. We hope this paper will fill this gap. It will be shown that Marx's distinction between productive and unproductive labour follows from his dual theory of labour value and use-value. Once this theory is formulated in terms of matrix algebra, it will be shown that Marx's results are confirmed without any further ideological digression. We will also consider the rate of profit formula developed by Morishima and Seton (1961) in the light of our previous results. In a last section some hints will be given for a less abstract mathematical analysis of unproductive labour today.

On Classifying State Expenditure

In this paper, state expenditures are analyzed with respect to their impact on the creation and realization of surplus value. In order to do this, the categories of productive and unproductive labor are developed and tied to the causes of economic crises. State expenditures are divided into three components: state purchases from private capital, government services (administrative, police, education, etc.), and transfer payments. Only state purchases from private capital involve productive labor.