On the transformation problem

<p>In the first two volumes of <em>Capital</em> it is assumed that commodities are exchanged according to their values; with different organic compositions of capital for each sector of the economy this assumption leads to different rates of profit, a result which is not consistent neither with the reality of a capitalist system nor with the Marxian assumptions. Marx points out the problem in the third volume of <em>Capital</em> where he introduces the concept of prices of production (cost plus average profit on capital employed) as deviations from the actual values of the commodities. He maintains that when the economy enters the capitalist stage, the rate of profit cannot be unequal among the different sectors; even if unequal profit rates exist at some particular period of time, competition among capitalists creates the mechanism for profit rate equalization. As a result, prices at which commodities are exchanged do not strictly correspond to the quantity of labor expended in their production. He concludes that the law of value operates directly in the first case and indirectly in the second modified into prices of production.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Economics

Year

1974

Author dc:creator

• Hatziprokopiou, Mihalis

Contributors dc:contributor

• Melvin Leiman
• Jung Chao Liu
• Jan M. Michal

• Marxian economics
• Mathematical models

Repository record dc:identifier

https://orb.binghamton.edu/dissertation_and_theses/261

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:orb.binghamton.edu:dissertation_and_theses-1267