‘services’ in marxian economic thought

28
1 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought Fiona Tregenna  Faculty of  Economics,  University of  Cambridge Abstract The services sector  has grown as a share of  GDP and employment in most countries in recent years, and there has been increasing interest in understanding this sector and in its growth potential. This article analyses the meaning and nature of  the ‘services sector’ from a Marxian perspective.  Marx did not analyse ‘services’  as such (although he did discuss certain types of  activities that are currently classified as services), and ‘sectors’  are not the units of  his economic analysis. From a Marxian approach,  an activity needs to be analysed in terms of  its location in the circuit of  capital and its relationship with the production of  surplusvalue. The ‘services sector’ includes activities which are highly heterogeneous in these terms,  including activities in which surplusvalue is directly produced,  activities which facilitate the production of  surplusvalue elsewhere (or increase the rate at which it is produced), and activities that stand outside of  the circuit of  capital. Marxian tools of  analysis yield particular insights into the nature of  various types of  service activities, which is helpful in understanding sectoral structure and the potential implications of  changes therein.  JEL codes: B14, B31, B51, L80 Keywords: Marx, services,  circulation,  surplusvalue, sectors,  commodities  Contact:  [email protected],  [email protected].  Thanks  to Geoff  Harcourt,  Gabriel Palma,  and HaJoon Chang for helpful  comments;  any errors or omissions are my own. 

Upload: jake-radowski

Post on 07-Apr-2018

221 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 1/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 2/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 3/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 4/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 5/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 6/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 7/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 8/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 9/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 10/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 11/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 12/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 13/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 14/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 15/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 16/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 17/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 18/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 19/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 20/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 21/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 22/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 23/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 24/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 25/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 26/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 27/28

8/6/2019 ‘Services’ in Marxian economic thought

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/services-in-marxian-economic-thought 28/28