Abstract
The problem of the relationship between value and price – the so called Transformation Problem – is a central issue in Marxian economics. In one sense it can be posed as a technical or mathematical problem of deriving a set of prices from a given set of value equations. But if it were only a technical problem then it should have a definite answer – either a solution exists or it does not. It is surprising therefore that this problem has continued to attract succeeding generations of economists since the date of publication of volume 3 of Capital in 1894 (Marx 1894).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
von Böhm-Bawerk, E.R. 1896. Zum Abschluss des Marxschen System. In Staatswissenschaftliche Arbeiten: festgaben für Karl Knies, ed. O.V. Boenig, Berlin. Trans. as ‘Karl Marx and the close of his system’ in Sweezy (1949).
von Bortkiewicz, L. 1906–7. Wertrechnung und Preisrechnung im Marxschen System. Archiv fur Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik, July 1906, July and September 1907. Trans. as: Value and price in the Marxian system. In International economic papers No. 2, ed. Alan T. Peacock et al., London/New York: Macmillan, 1952.
von Bortkiewicz, L. 1907. Zur Berichtigung der grundlegenden theoretischen konstruktion von Marx im dritten Band des ‘Kapital’. Jahrbucher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, July. Trans. as: ‘On the correction of Marx’s fundamental theoretical construction in the third volume of Capital’ as Appendix in Sweezy (1949).
Desai, M. 1979. Marxian economics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Koopmans, T.C. 1951. Activity analysis of production and allocation, Cowles Commission Monograph, vol. 13. New York: John Wiley.
Marx, K. 1894. Das Kapital, Vol. III, ed. F. Engels. Hamburg: Otto Meissner.
Morishima, M. 1973. Marx’s economics: A dual theory of value and growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Morishima, M., and G. Catephores. 1975. The transformation problem: A Markov process. In Value exploitation and growth – Marx in the light of modern economic theory, ed. M. Morishima. New York: McGraw–Hill.
Morishima, M., and F. Seton. 1961. Aggregation in Leontief matrices and the labour theory of value. Econometrica 29: 203–220.
Roemer, J. 1980. A general equilibrium approach to marxian economics. Econometrica 48: 505–530.
Samuelson, P.A. 1971. Understanding the marxian notion of exploitation: A summary of the so-called transformation problem between marxian values and competitive prices. Journal of Economic Literature 9(2): 399–431.
Samuelson, P.A. 1972. The collected scientific papers of Paul A. Samuelson, Vol. 3, ed. Robert C. Merton. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Samuelson, P.A. and, C. Weiszacker. 1971. A new labour theory of value for rational planning through the use of the bourgeois profit rate. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, June. Also in Samuelson (1972).
Schwartz, J. 1977. The subtle anatomy of capitalism. California: Santa Monica.
Shaikh, A. 1977. Marx’s theory of value and the transformation problem. In Schwartz (1977).
Steedman, I. 1977. Marx after Sraffa. London: New Left Books.
Sweezy, P.M. 1942. The theory of capitalist development. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Sweezy, P.M., ed. 1949. Karl Marx and the close of his system by E. von Böhm-Bawerk and Böhmbawerk’s criticism of Marx by Hilferding. New York: Augustus Kelly.
Wicksteed, P.H. 1884. Das Kapital: A criticism. First published in Today, October 1884, reprinted in P.H. Wicksteed, The Commonsense of Political Economy, Vol. II, 1933.
Winternitz, J. 1948. Values and prices: A solution of the so-called transformation problem. Economic Journal 58: 276–280.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Desai, M. (2018). Value and Price. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1815
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1815
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95188-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95189-5
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences