IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/reorpe/v8y1976i2p36-54.html

The Nature of Labor Exchange and the Theory of Capitalist Production

Author

Listed:
  • Herbert Gintis
  • Herbert Gintis

    (Dept. of Economics Thompson 908 University of Mass. Amherst, Mass. 01002)

Abstract

This article compares the neoclassical and Marxian theories of the firm. The neoclassical, interpreting the social relations in the production process, in particular the relations of authority and inequality, as flowing from the nature of technology and atomistic preferences, is shown to be incorrect. The Marxian theory which interprets the social relations of the production process as the outcome of class struggle, is supported theoretically and empirically. The Marxian analysis presented herein starts with the labor/ labor-power distinction, and derives the relations of authority, control, al forms of inequality in the capitalist firm from the dynamic of extraction of surplus value.

Suggested Citation

  • Herbert Gintis & Herbert Gintis, 1976. "The Nature of Labor Exchange and the Theory of Capitalist Production," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 8(2), pages 36-54, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:8:y:1976:i:2:p:36-54
    DOI: 10.1177/048661347600800203
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/048661347600800203
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/048661347600800203?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robin Marris & Adrian Wood (ed.), 1971. "The Corporate Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-01110-0, June.
    2. Gintis, Herbert, 1971. "Education, Technology, and the Characteristics of Worker Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(2), pages 266-279, May.
    3. Gintis, Herbert, 1972. "Consumer Behavior and the Concept of Sovereignty: Explanations of Social Decay," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(2), pages 267-278, May.
    4. Gintis, Herbert, 1974. "Welfare Criteria with Endogenous Preferences: The Economics of Education," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 15(2), pages 415-430, June.
    5. Orley Ashenfelter, 1970. "Changes in Labor Market Discrimination Over Time," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 5(4), pages 403-430.
    6. Lerner, Abba P, 1972. "The Economics and Politics of Consumer Sovereignty," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(2), pages 258-266, May.
    7. Kenneth J. Arrow, 1971. "The Firm in General Equilibrium Theory," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Robin Marris & Adrian Wood (ed.), The Corporate Economy, chapter 3, pages 68-110, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Alan B. Batchelder, 1964. "Decline in the Relative Income of Negro Men," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 78(4), pages 525-546.
    9. Zellner, Harriet, 1972. "Discrimination Against Women, Occupational Segregation, and the Relative Wage," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(2), pages 157-160, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Dan Thorman & Lorraine Whitmarsh & Christina Demski, 2020. "Policy Acceptance of Low-Consumption Governance Approaches: The Effect of Social Norms and Hypocrisy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-25, February.
    2. Eliasson, Gunnar, 1982. "On the Optimal Rate of Structural Adjustment," Working Paper Series 74, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    3. Alexandre Chirat, 2021. "The correspondence between Baumol and Galbraith (1957–1958) An unsuspected source of managerial theories of the firm," EconomiX Working Papers 2021-35, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    4. Rachid Boumahdi & Jean-Michel Plassard, 1992. "Note à propos du caractère endogène de la variable éducation dans la fonction de gains," Revue Économique, Programme National Persée, vol. 43(1), pages 145-156.
    5. Mattauch, Linus & Hepburn, Cameron & Stern, Nicholas, 2018. "Pigou pushes preferences: decarbonisation and endogenous values," INET Oxford Working Papers 2018-16, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    6. Kenneth Y. Chay, 1998. "The Impact of Federal Civil Rights Policy on Black Economic Progress: Evidence from the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(4), pages 608-632, July.
    7. Tomer, John F., 1996. "Good habits and bad habits: A new age socio-economic model of preference formation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 619-638.
    8. Laurence Kranich, 2022. "Affective social policy," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(2), pages 362-379, April.
    9. Gordon B. Dahl & Matthew Knepper, 2023. "Age Discrimination across the Business Cycle," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 75-112, November.
    10. Spencer, David A, 2000. "The Demise of Radical Political Economics? An Essay on the Evolution of a Theory of Capitalist Production," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 24(5), pages 543-564, September.
    11. Warren Samuels, 2007. "The interrelations between legal and economic processes: a consideration of the reactions," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 243-285, December.
    12. Alberto Russo, 2025. "Inequality, financialization, and political disintegration," Working Papers 2025/07, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    13. Tiller, Rachel Gjelsvik & Hansen, Lillian & Richards, Russell & Strand, Hillevi, 2015. "Work segmentation in the Norwegian salmon industry: The application of segmented labor market theory to work migrants on the island community of Frøya, Norway," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 563-572.
    14. Gunnar Eliasson & Magnus Henrekson, 2004. "William J. Baumol: An Entrepreneurial Economist on the Economics of Entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-7, August.
    15. AL Szymanski, 1975. "Trends in Economic Discrimination Against Blacks in the U.S. Working Class," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 7(3), pages 1-21, October.
    16. Diane Coyle & Mark Fabian & Eric Beinhocker & Tim Besley & Margaret Stevens, 2023. "Is it time to reboot welfare economics? Overview," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 109-121, June.
    17. Francisco Diaz Hermelo & Roberto Vassolo, 2007. "The Determinants Of Firm’S Growth: An Empirical Examination," Abante, Escuela de Administracion. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 10(1), pages 3-20.
    18. Jean Léonard, 1996. "Education, effets externes, emploi : le cas de la France," Revue de l'OFCE, Programme National Persée, vol. 58(1), pages 67-102.
    19. Joop Hartog, 1976. "Ability And Age‐Income Profiles," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 22(1), pages 61-74, March.
    20. Gillian Hewitson, 2001. "A Survey of Feminist Economics," Working Papers 2001.01, School of Economics, La Trobe University.

    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:sae:reorpe:v:8:y:1976:i:2:p:36-54. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.urpe.org/ .

    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.