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Labour, Commodities and the Labour Market: A Heterodox Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Graham White
Graham White*
Affiliation:
Discipline of Economics, University of Sydney
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Abstract

The article sheds light on the proposition that labour is a commodity by considering from a fundamental theoretical perspective whether labour is subject to the same market forces which apply to commodities in general in capitalist economies. It suggests that no spontaneous competitive force exists within capitalism that would adjust labour demand to its supply, in contrast to the adaptation of supply to the demand for commodities in general. This result is argued without reference to assumptions about inflexibilities or impediments in labour or other markets, or institutional features peculiar to ‘the labour market’. Its explanation of why labour markets do not clear is at odds with a core tenet underlying orthodox economic theory of the last century, which has acted as a fundamental benchmark for most theorising about labour to the present day. Rejection of this tenet is at the heart of a heterodox explanation of unemployment, the real wage and income distribution in capitalist economies.

Keywords

General aggregative models — SraffianPost-Keynesianemploymentunemploymentreal wagescompensation and labour costsB22E11E24J3
Type
Mini-Symposium: The Labour-as-Commodity Debate
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , October 2010 , pp. 89 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2010

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