Changes in the real wage and the rate of profit

Keyword(s):  
The Real ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Andrews

In classical political economy, the real wage derives its reality from its association with a given set of products that provides for the subsistence of workers through time. In neoclassical theory the connection between the real wage and a given set of products is broken, because the restriction of workers’ consumption to a particular set of products conflicts with the idea of individual consumer preference. Thus, the ‘reality’ of the real wage in neoclassical theory is grounded differently, in a particular standard of value that can be called an index number standard. The difficulties involved with this construction raise questions about the theoretical adequacy of the notion of real wage itself. In particular, this leads to a conclusion that stands in sharp contrast to the empiricist proclamations of neoclassical theory.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengsheng Wang ◽  
Bangxi Li ◽  
Shan Gu

PurposeDifferent from Marx's analysis of the dialectical relationship between the production and realization of surplus value, the Okishio theorem only shows one aspect of the contradictory movement of the total social capital, that is, the reverse effect of the realization of surplus value on the production of surplus value.Design/methodology/approachThe production of surplus value and the realization of surplus value are simplified into one process. This simplification eliminates the contradiction between the production and realization of surplus value, and the antagonistic contradiction between accumulation and consumption and the antagonistic production-distribution relationship in capitalist society are naturally covered up.FindingsTherefore, it cannot explain the actual expansion way of the falling general rate of profit as the historical development law of capitalism. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the Okishio theorem places the analysis of the general rate of profit back into the social reproduction model with department equilibrium, which points out the significance of wage income to the realization of surplus value and outlines the macro mechanism of the realization of surplus value reacting to the production of surplus value. It also strongly promotes the research progress of the law that the profit rate tends to decline.Originality/valueThe mistake of the Okishio theorem is that the exchange process in the labor market forms the real wage rate. It determines the production price of wage goods, which thereby determines that the production price of capital goods and general rate of profit, the production of surplus value and realization of surplus value are simplified into the same process, and only the value that can be realized is the real value.


1985 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 41-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Andrews ◽  
D.N.F. Bell ◽  
P.G. Fisher ◽  
K.F. Wallis ◽  
J.D. Whitley

This article is an example of the type of exercise that is made possible by the existence of the set of UK models at Warwick. Using three quarterly models, those of the London Business School (LBS), the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT), and two annual models, those of the City University Business School (CUBS) and the Liverpool University Research Group in Macroeconomics (LPL), it considers the use, and possible abuse, of such models of the UK economy to illustrate the real wage—employment debate.In UK models real wages and employment are determined jointly and the article shows that the sign of the association between these two variables depends ore the nature of the shock which causes real wages to change. A common method of analysis is to perturb the endogenous real wage directly and although the results are quantitatively similar to those where the change to real wages results from a supply-side shock to the labour market, it is argued that such exercises are typically without foundation since no mechanism for achieving a direct reduction in real wages is put forward. Any implicit model which underpins the assumption of an exogenous shift in an endogenous variable needs to be stated clearly in order for the plausibility of the ‘intervention’ and resulting policy analysis to be assessed.


1990 ◽  
Vol 8 (1, Part 1) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Nickell ◽  
James Symons

1991 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-298
Author(s):  
Michael R. Baye ◽  
Dan A. Black
Keyword(s):  

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