IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eej/eeconj/v13y1987i3p271-280.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cyclical Over-Investment and Crisis in a Labor-Scarce Economy

Author

Listed:
  • James N. Devine

Abstract

This paper incorporates a post-Marxian view of investment in an overinvestment theory of cyclical economic crises. The Marxian crisis theory based on the tendency for the profit rate to fall (because of overmechanization) is replaced with a theory of overaccumulation of fixed capital, while the high employment profit squeeze is restated in terms of this overinvestment. Historical conditions determine overinvestment's results: when labor power is potentially scarce (precapitalist or agricultural labor reserves are largely gone), overinvestment means rising costs, falling profit rates, and crisis. Also, the resulting slump can cause either a recovery or lasting stagnation. Finally, post-1949 U.S. data are presented to argue the theory's plausibility.

Suggested Citation

  • James N. Devine, 1987. "Cyclical Over-Investment and Crisis in a Labor-Scarce Economy," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 271-280, Jul-Sep.
    • Handle: RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:13:y:1987:i:3:p:271-280
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://web.holycross.edu/RePEc/eej/Archive/Volume13/V13N3P271_280.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shaikh, Anwar, 1978. "Political Economy and Capitalism: Notes on Dobb's Theory of Crisis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 233-251, June.
    2. Weisskopf, Thomas E, 1979. "Marxian Crisis Theory and the Rate of Profit in the Postwar U.S. Economy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(4), pages 341-378, December.
    3. Robert J. Gordon, 1979. "The "End-of-Expansion" Phenomenon in Short-Run Productivity Behavior," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 10(2), pages 447-462.
    4. Hahnel, Robin & Sherman, Howard, 1982. "The Rate of Profit over the Business Cycle," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 185-194, June.
    5. Bernanke, Ben S, 1981. "Bankruptcy, Liquidity, and Recession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(2), pages 155-159, May.
    6. Kathleen Pulling, 1978. "Cyclical Behavior of Profit Margins," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 287-305, June.
    7. Kahn, Lawrence M, 1980. "Bargaining Power, Search Theory and the Phillips Curve," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 233-244, September.
    8. Raford Boddy & James Crotty, 1975. "Class Conflict and Macro-Policy: The Political Business Cycle," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-19, April.
    9. Roemer, John E, 1978. "The Effect of Technological Change on the Real Wage and Marx's Falling Rate of Profit," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(30), pages 152-166, June.
    10. Ashenfelter, Orley & Johnson, George E, 1969. "Bargaining Theory, Trade Unions, and Industrial Strike Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 59(1), pages 35-49, March.
    11. Albert M. Wojnilower, 1980. "The Central Role of Credit Crunches in Recent Financial History," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 11(2), pages 277-340.
    12. Philippe Van Parijs, 1980. "The Falling-Rate-of Profit Theory of Crisis: A Rational Reconstruction by Way of Obituary," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, April.
    13. Andrew B. Abel, 1981. "A Dynamic Model of Investment and Capacity Utilization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 96(3), pages 379-403.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Rudy Fichtenbaum, 1988. "'Business Cycles,' Turnover and the Rate of Profit: An Empirical Test of Marxian Crisis Theory," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 221-228, Jul-Sep.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rudy Fichtenbaum, 1988. "'Business Cycles,' Turnover and the Rate of Profit: An Empirical Test of Marxian Crisis Theory," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 221-228, Jul-Sep.
    2. Vaona, Andrea, 2011. "Profit rate dynamics, income distribution, structural and technical change in Denmark, Finland and Italy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 247-268, September.
    3. M Webber & D Rigby, 1999. "Accumulation and the Rate of Profit: Regulating the Macroeconomy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 31(1), pages 141-164, January.
    4. Guilherme Klein Martins & Fernando Rugitsky, 2018. "The commodities boom and the profit squeeze: output and profit cycles in Brazil (1996-2016)," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2018_09, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    5. Eckhard Hein, 2006. "Money, interest and capital accumulationin Karl Marx's economics: a monetary interpretation and some similaritiesto post-Keynesian approaches," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 113-140.
    6. Eckhard Hein, 2005. "Money, Interest, and Capital Accumulation in Karl Marx’s," Method and Hist of Econ Thought 0501002, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. José Alberro & Joseph Persky, 1979. "The Simple Analytics of Falling Profit Rates, Okishio's Theorem and Fixed Capital," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 11(3), pages 37-41, October.
    8. Deepankar Basu & Ramaa Vasudevan, 2013. "Technology, distribution and the rate of profit in the US economy: understanding the current crisis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 37(1), pages 57-89.
    9. Eckhard Hein & Marc Lavoie & Till van Treeck, 2011. "Some instability puzzles in Kaleckian models of growth and distribution: a critical survey," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(3), pages 587-612.
    10. Hein, Eckhard, 2002. "Money, interest, and capital accumulation in Karl Marx's economics: A monetary interpretation," WSI Working Papers 102, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    11. Alexiou, Constantinos, 2022. "Evaluating the falling rate of profit in the context of the UK economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 84-94.
    12. Mariolis, Theodore, 2010. "Κριτική Έκθεση του "Νόμου της Πτωτικής Τάσης του Ποσοστού Κέρδους" του K. Marx: Κατανομή Εισοδήματος, Επισώρευση Κεφαλαίου και Τεχνολογική Μεταβολή στη Μακρά Περίοδο [Critical Exposition ," MPRA Paper 22461, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Edwin Dickens, 1995. "U.S. Monetary Policy In The 1950s: A Radical Political Economic Approach," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 27(4), pages 83-111, December.
    14. Basu, Deepankar & Das, Debarshi, 2015. "Profitability in India’s Organized Manufacturing Sector: The Role of Technology, Distribution, and Demand," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2015-04, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    15. Michele I. Naples, 1988. "Industrial Conflict, the Quality of Worklife, and the Productivity Slowdown in U.S. Manufacturing," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 157-166, Apr-Jun.
    16. Ivan D. TROFIMOV & Nazaria Md. ARIS & Muhammad Khairil Firdaus Bin ROSLI, 2018. "Macroeconomic determinants of the labour share of income: Evidence from OECD economies," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(3(616), A), pages 25-48, Autumn.
    17. Guilherme Klein Martins & Fernando Rugitsky, 2021. "The Long Expansion and the Profit Squeeze: Output and Profit Cycles in Brazil (1996–2016)," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 53(3), pages 373-397, September.
    18. Edwin Dickens, 1999. "A Political-Economic Critique of Minsky's Financial Instability Hypothesis: The case of the 1966 financial crisis," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 379-398.
    19. Rebecca Kalmans, 1997. "Productive Activity, Accumulation, and Growth in Postwar Japan and the United States," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 1-25, June.
    20. Jackson, William A., 2014. "The Factor-Shares Cycle and its Relation to the Business Cycle," EconStor Open Access Book Chapters, in: Business Cycles in Economics: Types, Challenges and Impacts on Monetary Policies, pages 11-26, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

    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:eej:eeconj:v:13:y:1987:i:3:p:271-280. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Victor Matheson, College of the Holy Cross (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eeaa1ea.html .

    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.