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Labour Time versus Alternative Value Bases: A Research Note

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  • Cockshott, W Paul
  • Cottrell, Allin F

Abstract

This paper provides empirical support for the 'law of value,' understood as the proposition that embodied labor time is conserved in exchanges of commodities. Market prices are well correlated with the sum of direct and indirect labor content. Is it possible to produce equally good correlations by taking the sum of direct and indirect x-content, where x is some input other than labor time? The authors repeat the analysis for electricity, iron and steel, and oil and show that the answer is no. The high correlations in the case of labor time are, therefore, not a statistical artifact. Copyright 1997 by Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Cockshott, W Paul & Cottrell, Allin F, 1997. "Labour Time versus Alternative Value Bases: A Research Note," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 21(4), pages 545-549, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:21:y:1997:i:4:p:545-49
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    Cited by:

    1. Simon Mohun & Roberto Veneziani, 2017. "Value, Price, And Exploitation: The Logic Of The Transformation Problem," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1387-1420, December.
    2. Peter Flaschel & Nils Fröhlich & Roberto Veneziani, 2013. "The sources of aggregate profitability: Marx's theory of surplus value revisited," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 10(3), pages 299—312-2, December.
    3. Deepankar Basu, 2017. "Quantitative Empirical Research In Marxist Political Economy: A Selective Review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1359-1386, December.
    4. Vaona, Andrea, 2015. "Price–price deviations are highly persistent," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 86-95.
    5. Cottrell, Allin & Cockshott, W. Paul, 2007. "Against Hayek," MPRA Paper 6062, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Lambert, Karras J. & Fegley, Tate & Candela, Rosolino & Boettke, Peter & Phelan, Steven E. & Wenzel, Nikolai G. & Dapprich, J. Philipp, 2023. "Reply and counter-reply: On cybersocialism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 300-310.
    7. Basu, Deepankar, 2015. "A Selective Review of Recent Quantitative Empirical Research in Marxist Political Economy," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2015-05, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    8. Lefteris Tsoulfidis & Dimitris Paitaridis, 2017. "Monetary Expressions of Labour Time and Market Prices: Theory and Evidence from China, Japan and Korea," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 111-132, January.
    9. William Hongsong Wang & Victor I. Espinosa & José Antonio Peña-Ramos, 2021. "Private Property Rights, Dynamic Efficiency and Economic Development: An Austrian Reply to Neo-Marxist Scholars Nieto and Mateo on Cyber-Communism and Market Process," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, November.
    10. Cockshott, Paul & Renaud, Karen, 2016. "Humans, robots and values," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 19-28.
    11. Peter Hans Matthews, 2021. "The dialectics of differentiation: Marx's mathematical manuscripts and their relation to his economics," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(1), pages 25-50, January.
    12. Moreno-Casas, Vicente & Espinosa, Victor I. & Wang, William Hongsong, 2022. "The political economy of complexity: The case of cyber-communism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 566-580.
    13. Angelo Reati, 2005. "Value and exploitation: a comment," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 609-617.
    14. Jan Mikael Malmaeus, 2016. "Economic Values and Resource Use," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-20, May.
    15. Andrea Vaona, 2014. "A panel data approach to price–value correlations," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 21-34, August.
    16. Emilio Díaz & Rubén Osuna, 2009. "From correlation to dispersion: geometry of the price-value deviation," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 427-440, May.
    17. T Mariolis & G Soklis, 2010. "Additive Labour Values and Prices: Evidence from the Supply and Use Tables of the French, German and Greek Economies," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 15(2), pages 87-107, September.
    18. B. Güney Işıkara & Patrick Mokre, 2020. "Price-Value Deviations and the Labor Theory of Value. Evidence from 42 Countries, 2000-2017," Working Papers 2003, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.

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