Wage level

Another way of reading the passage was suggested by Hilferding and further elaborated by Rowthorn. It involves looking at the value created in the educational sector, rather than the value of the constant and the variable capital employed in it. This allows us to determine the reduction rates independently of the wage level, and - as shown by Rowthorn - also permits a more fruitful discussion of the importance of education in a capitalist economy. 

Consider now two possibilities. (1) o < w < Wo Atid technique 11 Is the only known technique. If technique i is introduced, capitalists will switch to it immediately, since it is associated with a higher rate of profit (at that wage level). The switch, however, entails a fall in the rate of surplus-value, which under technique ii was wB/Ow and now becomes wA/Ow. (ii) Wo< A and technique i is the only known technique. If technique 11 is introduced it will be preferred on profit-maximizing grounds, and will also lead to an increase in the rate of surplus-value. Hence it is shown that profit-motivated innovation can bring about a rise in the rate of surplus-value, but - contrary to what Marx asserted - need not do so. 

So far as the individual capitalist is concerned, each takes the wage level for granted and attempts to do the best he can for himself. In introducing machinery he is therefore merely attempting to economize on his own wage bill. The net effect of all the capitalists behaving in this way, however, t to create unemployment which in turn acts upon the wage level. ... 

Wage level 2001-March 2004 205,298 beneficiaries or less than 1% of the economically active... 

LABOUR MARKET Sufficient manpower with the respective quahfication must be available. Either they are recmitable at the new location or they must be transferred from an already existing facility. Here again, the wage level is important... 

Break-even iso-profit curves for the two industries are shown as x i and ttu- A break-even iso-profit curve shows all of the combinations of wage levels and job risks that result zero industry profits. They slope upward because higher wages are only possible if the industry reduces its investment in equipment and practices that make the workplace safer. 

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