The Labour Theory of Value, Simple Commodity Production and the Transformation Problem

Critique ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Bill Jefferies
Keyword(s):  
Transformation Problem ◽  
Commodity Production ◽  
Theory Of Value

Marx’s Argument for the Labor Theory of Value

2020 ◽  
pp. 048661341989527
Author(s):  
Gregory Slack
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Labor Theory Of Value ◽  
Transformation Problem ◽  
Labor Theory ◽  
Intuitive Appeal ◽  
General Readership ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
Central Economic

In a Times Literary Supplement review of some recent literature on Marx and Marxism for a general readership, Jonathan Wolff claimed that Marx’s solution to the so-called “transformation problem” is “half-baked.” The aim of this paper is to challenge this complacent dismissal of some of Marx’s central economic ideas. In the process, I want to show that although the issues here are subtle and complex, Marx’s ideas retain a great deal of intuitive appeal, and his “solution” to the so-called “transformation problem” is neither conceptually implausible nor mathematically dubious. Crucial to this aim is to show that Marx viewed the categories of (what he called bourgeois) economics through a social lens, which is given in the first chapter of the first volume of Capital.

The Transformation Problem: Exposition and Appraisal

1990 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-195
Author(s):  
Murray Wolfson
Keyword(s):  
Value Theory ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Philosophical Beliefs ◽  
Transformation Problem ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
Social Costs And Benefits

Every theory of value has to perform certain tasks. In the narrowest sense, it must explain ratios of exchange on the market. But it must also give an account of social costs and benefits, and their distribution among individuals and groups. Value theory must relate human beings to the physical and biological realities. It must explain the relations between persons and groups. In fulfilling all these tasks, value theory reflects philosophical beliefs about how human beings perceive and react to nature and to each other.

Labor Theory of Value: Problems and Historical Significance

2008 ◽  
pp. 110-129
Author(s):  
M. Bodrikov
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Economic Literature ◽  
Labor Theory Of Value ◽  
Transformation Problem ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
Labor Theory ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Theory Of Value

The article considers basic propositions of the labor theory of value and related discussions in modern economic literature. It also analyzes different approaches to the solution of the transformation problem. The author shows that the first and unique attempt to ground this theory was made by K. Marx. He also affirms that Marx’s proof has no logical contradictions, but is true only in the specific case of production with one initial resource. The hypothesis is introduced that the Marxist model of the value-price is the convenient basis for construction of the general theory of value.

scholarly journals Marx, the labour theory of value and the transformation problem

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 493-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Burns
Keyword(s):  
Social Value ◽  
Transformation Problem ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Value ◽  
Labour Time ◽  
Methodological Difficulties ◽  
Made In

This article reconsiders what Marx says about what has come to be known as the transformation problem in Chapter IX of Capital Volume III, in the light of Marx’s claim, made in Capital Volume I, that the value of a commodity is determined by the socially necessary labour-time that goes into its production. I criticise the traditional way of thinking about the transformation problem, according to which what Marx is doing in Chapter IX is considering the transformation of values into prices (‘prices of production’). I argue that Marx’s prices of production may be thought of as modified values. The discussion in Chapter IX is usually seen as a supplement to the labour theory of value. On this view, its purpose is to explain how and why the prices of commodities sometimes deviate from their values. Against this view, this article argues that Marx’s remarks in Chapter IX can be seen as an elaboration on or development of the labour theory of value. It is a refinement of the account offered in Capital Volume I, which takes into consideration what Marx had in mind there when he introduced the notion of socially necessary as opposed to actual labour-time. The article draws attention to the importance of Marx’s distinction between the individual value of a commodity (determined by actual labour-time) and its social value (determined by socially necessary labour-time). It also draws attention to the methodological difficulties that are generated by any attempt to read Marx in this way.

scholarly journals A category-mistake in the classical labour theory of value

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Wright
Keyword(s):  
Category Mistake ◽  
Transformation Problem ◽  
Formation Problem ◽  
Logical Type ◽  
History Of ◽  
Theory Of Value

The classical labour theory of value generates two well-known contradictions: Ricardo's problem of an invariable measure of value and Marx's transformation problem. I show that both contradictions derive from a category-mistake of supposing that technical costs and total costs are of the same logical type. This category-mistake is the underlying cause of the almost two hundred year history of the 'value controversy'. Once identified we can avoid the mistake, which reveals a more general labour theory of value with an invariable measure of value and without a trans- formation problem.

The Transformation Problem: A Comparative Historical Analysis of Approaches and Solutions (Classical Perspectives)

2008 ◽  
pp. 123-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Levina
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Marxian Theory ◽  
Neoclassical Theory ◽  
Labor Theory Of Value ◽  
Transformation Problem ◽  
Labor Theory ◽  
Comparative Historical Analysis ◽  
Theory Of Value

The article focuses on the analysis of approaches to the transformation problem. The author examines the place and role of the transformation problem in Marx’s theory and methodology, as well as provides a critical analysis of solutions to this problem that emerged during the earlier stage of the debates in the Western literature. They include the approaches within the so-called "dual-system" interpretation developed by the proponents of the neoclassical theory and Marxists (those aiming at preserving Marxian theory without his labor theory of value, as well as those trying to retain Marx’s major conclusions but to correct his mistakes and make his theory consistent).

“The Teacher Who had the Greatest Influence on My Thinking”

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Reisenzein ◽  
Irina Mchitarjan
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Responsibility Attribution ◽  
Alexius Meinong ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
Psychological Inquiry ◽  
Academic Teacher ◽  
Common Sense Psychology

According to Heider, some of his ideas about common-sense psychology presented in The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations ( Heider, 1958 ) originally came from his academic teacher, Alexius Meinong. However, Heider makes no reference to Meinong in his book. To clarify Meinong’s influence on Heider, we compare Heider’s explication of common-sense psychology with Meinong’s writings, in particular those on ethics. Our results confirm that Heider’s common-sense psychology is informed by Meinong’s psychological analyses in several respects: Heider adopts aspects of Meinong’s theory of emotion, his theory of value, and his theory of responsibility attribution. In addition, Heider more or less continues Meinong’s method of psychological inquiry. Thus, even without Meinong’s name attached, many aspects of Meinong’s psychology found their way into today’s social psychology via Heider. Unknowingly, some of us have been Meinongians all along.

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