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Marxian Transformation Problem

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The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics

Abstract

The transformation problem relates the labour theory of value and the competitive equalization of the rate of profit. Marx distinguishes the production of surplus-value from its redistribution through prices. Critics claim that the labour theory of value is an unnecessary detour to the determination of prices because total value and surplus-value are not conserved. The Single-System Labour Theory of Value (SS-LTV) argues that at any prices (1) the price of the net product expresses the labour expended, and (2) total profits are the price form of surplus-value, because the value of labour-power is the labour time equivalent of the wage.

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Foley, D., Duménil, G. (2018). Marxian Transformation Problem. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2082

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