Organic composition of capital

The composition of capital is a term coined by Karl Marx technical term. This term is understood Marx, as the investment of a capital sum is composed specifically by

• The part which is expended for the purchase of labor power of the wage-workers
• And the part that is used to purchase means of production of other capitalists.

This composition of capital for Marx important because in his opinion the added value can only result from the exploitation of wage workers as the basis of profit. This is due to the weak position of wage laborers, who must live on something, and which, therefore, on the one hand, a wage may be imposed, the (usually ) just enough to live and work, and that can be forced also to work longer than it would be necessary only granted to them wealth would be produced. This extra work makes for a multi- product, which is rated the added value that the full amount of the capitalists.

Although exchange capitalists and workers their goods also normally the same value to the same value. The worker receives the " value " of its work force, which corresponds precisely what he needed to maintain his labor power. In addition, the goods produced are then also sold at their value by the capitalists. However, since the total production is greater than what it must be conceded to the workers as wages, in the production process an increase in value has occurred. This difference between the value of labor power and the value of total production remains as an added value to the capitalists who sell the total production at its value.

In contrast, purchase and sale of productive assets among the capitalists can not lead to an enrichment of capitalists in total, according to Marx, only one may like to enrich themselves at the expense of the other. On average exchange but the capitalists among themselves only equal values. A machine indeed, for example, can create use-values ​​or help create, but no value. This is because the machine and its products are already owned by a capitalist with a specific value. The capitalist can trade a higher value for this value either by another capitalists, nor is it for the benefit of other capitalists accept a lower value for it. ( What is true for machines that would also apply to human slaves owned by capitalists, as occurred historically at times. Marx but this represents not expressly so dar. ) that can explain this by the notion that the various capitalists not by other capitalists will let overreach, or soon would disappear from the market.

Against this background, the development of the composition of capital is important. If, as to a continuing shift in the composition of capital at the expense of part of the capital which is expended for the purchase of labor power, then this must be the basis of surplus value and profit undermined because just only from wage labor surplus value is to win.

A closer examination of the composition of capital and their development over time, Marx leads to several problems, which he tries conceptually to deal with.

The material side

Firstly, there are purely material considered a mass of means of production, which served or consumed the individual worker. Specifically, Marx defined as the technical composition of capital in Volume I of Capital ( MEW 23, p 640) a certain composition of capital, namely, " the ratio between the mass of the applied means of production on the one hand and the means required for application amount of work on the other. "

Marx sees the composition of capital " by the side of the fabric ," according to which each capital is divided into means of production and living labor-power.

Marx assumes that the technical composition of capital increases continuously in the development of the capitalist economy in the course of technical progress, ie the ratio of the mass of the means of production and labor employed amount assumes a constantly increasing value. A single worker operating at his workplace a growing mass of means of production, he used always larger or more complex machines, it consumes an ever greater mass of raw materials, tools, etc.

But how can these " technical composition of capital," the material mass of means of production per worker, be measured? As can be at an office worker as paper sheets, aggregate consumption of ink, wear a copying machine to a size?

On the problem of capital aggregation see also the more detailed description under capital controversy.

Are all rated these means of production to their prices, they are obtained searched dimensional capital size that can be set with the number of workers in relationship and thus forms the value composition of capital.

The value of page

However, this value composition depends not only on how many means of production the individual worker consumes on average, but also on the price movements of the means of production. If oil as expensive, it increases the value composition of capital, even though the oil consumption has perhaps not increased. Conversely, perhaps with a drop in oil prices.

To exclude such price movements of the investigation, the value of the means of production per worker could be calculated by doing can the prices of the means of production from a given base year unchanged. So today is also the Federal Statistical Office in the calculation of capital intensity, calculated at constant prices of a base year, ago.

The organic composition of capital

By organic composition of capital, Karl Marx understood in Volume I of Capital ( MEW 23, p 640) a certain value composition of capital, namely the value composition of capital, insofar as it is determined by the technical composition of capital and reflects the change.

Marx is thus one of the problem that in the course of technical progress, the labor time required for the production of the means of production, running shorter, so that (after labor theory of value ) decrease the values ​​of the constant capital constantly. This advanced -related moral wear and other impairments or general changes in value can be calculated out by calculating the constant capital in constant values ​​of a given base year (which is not explained by Marx).

A method of today's statistics, approximately in the national accounts, is to calculate the fixed assets at constant prices of a particular base year. The fixed assets in proportion to the number of workers (employees ) would be (kind of ) organic composition of capital ( in Economics " capital intensity ").

Overview

Marx distinguishes in Volume I of Capital ( MEW 23, p 640) in the twenty-third capital " The general law of capitalist accumulation " three types of composition of capital:

• Technical composition of capital
• Value composition of capital
• Organic composition of capital

When Marx " summarily " of " composition of capital " speaks, he says, however, as he explains there, always the organic composition of capital.