Capitalism: history, theory, and contemporary applications

¶ … Surplus Value

The part of the working day that is required only to produce the value paid by the capitalist that is equal to the labor-power has been considered as being the constant magnitude by the Marxian economists, provided the current conditions of production and at a particular stage of economic develop is a specific time period. Beyond that particular period of time, the necessary labor-time, the laborer can work up to any number of hours. For example, the worker might be working for 2,3,4,6 and so on hours in a day. It is important to note here that the length of a single working day and the rate of surplus value are dependent on the value of the prolongation of total working hours in a day. Even though the necessary labor-time is considered to be constant in this matter, it is seen that the total working hours in a day varied.

The prolongation of the surplus-labor in this case would be associated with the shortening of the required labor, or a part of the labor; and the time that was consumed previously, in fact, for the benefit of the laborer, would then be considered as labor-time for the profit of the capitalist. Therefore, an alteration would be seen, not in the time duration of the working day, but in the division that is important pertaining to the surplus-labor time and labor-time.

On the other hand, it is quite obvious that the length of the surplus-labor is provided, when the duration of the working as well as the value of the labor-power has been provided. The labor-time that is required to produce labor-power, which is known as the value of labor-power, is the determinant of the labor-time that is required for the production of that specific value. In one working hour is viewed as being six pieces, and the value of that particular day's labor-power is viewed as five shillings, then the laborer has to work 10 hours in a day. 10 hours are required in order to replace the value that has been paid by capital for this labor-power, or to produce the value that is necessary or equal to the provision of a single day's sustenance.

Therefore, it can be said that the shortening or prolongation of the working day is not aimed at by any means in a capitalist production, especially when the labor has been economized in order to improve its productiveness and effectiveness. The only factor that is necessary for the production of a certain quantity of commodities is the shortening of the duration of the labor-time.

In order for the employers to make a significant fall in the value of labor-power, it is important for the increase in productivity of labor to get hold of the aspects of industry that are required for the determination of the value of labor-power, and thus they are either associated with the category of customary means of subsistence, or have the capability of providing the place with those means. However, it should be noted here that the value of a certain product is only determined by the quantity of the labor, which the worker directly provides to the product, but also depends on the labor contained in terms of production. For example, the value of a pair of shoes is not only determined by the labor of the cobbler, but also on the value of the thread, wax, leather and any other thing that was used in the production of that shoe. Therefore, a decrease in the value of labor-power also comes about by an increase in the productivity of labor, and by an associated decline in the cost of the commodities in the industries where the supply of raw materials and the instruments of labor, which are responsible for the formation of the material substances of the constant capital that is required for the production of the necessary things in life. However, an increase in the productivity of labor in those departments of industry that do not supply the necessities of life, not the means of production for those necessary products, does not have an impact on the value of labor-power.

In order for further explain what has been said above, we shall consider this example. If the labor in hour is viewed as being divided into sixpence, then the production in a working day based on 12 hours will be six shillings. For example, with the current dominance of productiveness of labor, 12 pieces of the product are manufactured in 12 hours. Consider the value of the means of production required in every article as being sixpence. In the presence of these circumstances, the cost of each article is going to be one shilling. Out of this one shilling, sixpence will be the cost of the means of production and the remaining sixpence will be the cost of the working value that has just been added to it. At this point, a capitalist will plan to increase the productivity of labor by two-folds, which implies that he would want the production of 24 such articles in 12 hours, instead of the production of 12 articles that were being produced previously. Considering that the values of means remains the same, the cost of every article will decrease to nine pence, which implies that sixpence would be the value for the means of production but now the value of the recently added labor will drop to three pence. Irrespective of the double productivity of labor, the production of labor in a single day would be the same as that of six shillings and not more than that. However, this value is now distributed among double the previously produced articles.

There are certain things that differentiate absolute surplus value from relative surplus value. The production of absolute surplus value takes into consideration an increment in the quantity of total value that is being produced, normally by increasing the working hours per day of the workers, and also be intensifying the amount of work done by them, by supervising the workers, decreasing the duration and frequency of their breaks and other such measures. This kind of increase in surplus value is controlled by its usefulness since there are some limitations that cannot be controlled, like the number of hours in a day. Moreover, there are also some other social limits including the welfare of the laborers. However, it should be noted here that the production of relative surplus value does not get affected by the aforementioned limitations, which makes then the primary means of increasing the surplus value by the controlling capitalist. Through the decrease in the value of labor power, which is the variable capital, relative surplus value production takes place. This relative surplus value is produced by making improvements in the production of commodities. In this particular case, when the wages and the working remains the same, the value of labor is seen to fall that leaves a greater surplus value. There are more than one ways of achieving the aforementioned result, which includes a place that is organized well and the introduction of the latest machinery.