Low surplus value historically required for accumulation, seen in a model derived from Marx

Abstract

In Volume I of Capital, Marx offers actual data from a Manchester spinning factory describing that business. In Volume II, he offers schemes of reproduction to help understand accumulation of capital while mentioning numbers that actually suggest correlation to the spinning factory data. Nevertheless, Marx seems to slide over the costs of new machinery when analyzing accumulation, instead focusing on wear and tear (depreciation). In this chapter, we offer a modeling of accumulation that takes account of modern estimates of the composition of capital, that is, the relation of labor time invested in constant capital compared to the labor time employed with that constant capital, relying principally upon U.S. and Canadian estimates.

We find empirically that the composition of capital fluctuates but does not show much trend. We also consider levels of the rate of exploitation and of utilization of surplus value required for achieving actual historical levels of accumulation of capital, and include consideration of the turnover of capital. We find that only a small portion of surplus value, perhaps 10%, is required for actually achieved accumulation. This suggests that a focus on the utilization of surplus value for the accumulation of capital misses vast other terrains for the utilization of surplus value.

Our result is suggestive of an overemphasis within Marxist political economy on accumulation of capital.

Citation

Zarembka, P. (2010), "Low surplus value historically required for accumulation, seen in a model derived from Marx", Zarembka, P. (Ed.) The National Question and the Question of Crisis (Research in Political Economy, Vol. 26), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 145-172. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0161-7230(2010)0000026006