IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/revpoe/v17y2005i3p413-441.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Representing the production and circulation of commodities in material terms: On Sraffa's objectivism

Author

Listed:
  • Heinz Kurz
  • Neri Salvadori

Abstract

The paper discusses Sraffa's interpretation of the classical economists and, following their lead, his elaboration of an objectivist, surplus-based theory of value and distribution. The emphasis is on the twin concepts of physical real costs and social surplus on the one hand and that of a circular flow of production on the other. In order to determine relative prices within such an analytical scheme, the tool of simultaneous equations is indispensable. It is then argued that fixed capital turned out to be a formidable obstacle: whereas the circulating part of capital allows one to entertain the idea of a material-cum-value transmigration into the product, this idea loses much of its appeal with regard to the durable part. Sraffa eventually overcame the difficulty in terms of the joint-products approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Heinz Kurz & Neri Salvadori, 2005. "Representing the production and circulation of commodities in material terms: On Sraffa's objectivism," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 413-441.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:17:y:2005:i:3:p:413-441
    DOI: 10.1080/09538250500147189
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09538250500147189
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09538250500147189?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Enrico Bellino, 2018. "Viability, reproducibility and returns in production price systems," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 35(3), pages 845-861, December.
    2. Lee, Frederic & Jo, Tae-Hee, 2010. "Heterodox production and cost theory of the business enterprise," MPRA Paper 27635, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Antonio D'Agata, 2021. "Normative (and objective) analysis in Sraffa's system," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 635-648, July.
    4. Saverio M. Fratini, 2018. "Theories of Value and Ultimate Standards in Sraffa’s Notes of Summer 1927," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 12(1-2), pages 35-53, June.
    5. Attilio Trezzini, 2018. "Piero Sraffa’s Use of the History of Economic Thought in the Cambridge Lectures," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 4(1), pages 189-209, March.
    6. Pierangelo Garegnani, 2005. "On a turning point in Sraffa's theoretical and interpretative position in the late 1920s," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 453-492.
    7. Rosselli, Annalisa & Trabucchi, Paolo, 2019. "Sraffa, the ‘marginal’ method and change," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 334-340.
    8. Saverio M Fratini, 2018. "Sraffa on the degeneration of the notion of cost [The ultimate standard of value]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 817-836.
    9. Pier Luigi Porta, 2013. "What remains of Sraffa's economics," Working Papers 242, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised May 2013.
    10. Fratini, Saverio M., 2019. "Theories of value and ultimate standards in Sraffa's notes of summer 1927," MPRA Paper 91728, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Padellini, Mauro, 2022. "Cost coverage in subsistence production and in surplus production," MPRA Paper 113374, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Alessandro Le Donne, 2022. "Quale Marx? A partire da una rilettura di Marx e gli economisti classici di Pierangelo Garegnani (Which Marx? A discussion from a re-reading of Marx and the classical economists by Pierangelo Garegnan," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 75(299), pages 327-338.
    13. Naldi, Nerio, 2018. "On the Origins of Piero Sraffa’s Equations. New Evidence Following Pierangelo Garegnani’s Lead," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP33, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    14. Heinz Kurz & Neri Salvadori, 2005. "Removing an 'insuperable obstacle' in the way of an objectivist analysis: Sraffa's attempts at fixed capital," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 493-523.
    15. Kurz, Heinz D., 2006. "The agents of production are the commodities themselves: On the classical theory of production, distribution and value," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 1-26, January.
    16. Trezzini, Attilio, 2019. "Sraffa on Marshall's Theory of Value in the Cambridge Lectures: Achievements in an Unfinished Criticism," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP34, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    17. Lee, Frederic, 2011. "Heterodox surplus approach: production, prices, and value theory," MPRA Paper 31824, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Ginzburg, Andrea, 2014. "Two translators: Gramsci and Sraffa," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP1, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    19. Kurz, Heinz D. & Salvadori, Neri, 2023. "Marx's concept of “exploitation” and the problem of measurement," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 887-896.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:17:y:2005:i:3:p:413-441. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CRPE20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.