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The measurement of labour content: a general approach

Author

Listed:
  • Naoki Yoshihara

    (Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst)

  • Roberto Veneziani

    (School of Economics and Finance, Queen Mary University of London)

Abstract

This paper analyses the theoretical issues related to the measurement of labour content for general technologies with heterogeneous labour. A novel axiomatic framework is used in order to formulate the key properties of the notion of labour content and analyse its theoretical foundations. The main measures of labour content used in various strands of the literature are then characterised. Quite surprisingly, a unique axiomatic structure can be identified which underlies measures of labour aggregates used in such diverse fields as neoclassical growth theory, input-output approaches, productivity analysis, and classical political economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Naoki Yoshihara & Roberto Veneziani, 2017. "The measurement of labour content: a general approach," Working Papers SDES-2017-17, Kochi University of Technology, School of Economics and Management, revised Sep 2017.
    • Handle: RePEc:kch:wpaper:sdes-2017-17
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    Cited by:

    1. Veneziani, Roberto & Yoshihara, Naoki, 2014. "One Million Miles to Go: Taking the Axiomatic Road to Defining Exploitation," Discussion Paper Series 615, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    2. Yoshihara, Naoki, 2014. "A Progressive Report on Marxian Economic Theory: On the Controversies in Exploitation Theory since Okishio (1963)," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2014-12, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    3. Tapan Mitra & Kemal Ozbek, 2021. "Ranking by weighted sum," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 72(2), pages 511-532, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour content; Labour productivity; Technical change; Axiomatic analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D57 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Input-Output Tables and Analysis
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • D46 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Value Theory

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