Production of commodities by means of commodities and non‐uniform rates of profits

Abstract

Sraffa's book Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities begins with the following (p. 3): Let us consider an extremely simple society …. Commodities are produced by separate industries and are exchanged for one another at a market held after the harvest. One of Sraffa's objectives is to determine the ... set of exchange‐values which if adopted by the market restores the original distribution of the products and makes it possible for the process to be repeated; such values spring directly from the methods of production (p. 3, emphasis added). so that the system is in a self‐replacing state. Furthermore, Sraffa assumed the rate of profits ... to be uniform in all industries (p. 98), emphasis added. This paper studies the self‐replacing properties of the system without assuming a uniform rate of profits.

Self-replacing prices with credit and debt

“…In Zambelli (2018b), the uniform rate of profits assumption is removed from the original structure outlined in PCMC. This assumption is shown to be a special case of di↵erential rates of profits.…”

“…If we exclude borrowing and lending, there are two distinct possibilities to explore: (1) the case with uniform rate of profits assumption (as in the traditional Sra an Schemes in PCMC); (2) the case with non-uniform rates of profit. The second case has been analysed in Zambelli (2018b). In these cases, all exchanges are solely barter as defined in eq.3.3 and distribution is computed as in eq.(2.13).…”

“…Though this assumption may have been important for Sra↵a's critique of economic theory, it is not strictly necessary while utilising Sra↵a's schemes to build more general systems. SeeZambelli (2018b) for a comprehensive treatment of the case with non-uniform rate of profits.…”

On means and ends in structural economic analysis: Broadening the field of enquiry

“…7 See Cardinale (2018b) for a detailed analysis. On the possibility to open up Sraffa's framework to non-uniform profit rates and the importance this may have within the broader interpretation of Sraffa's contribution, see alsoZambelli (2018) andVenkatachalam and Zambelli (2021). 8 Whilst the model shows the contribution of labour to each industry, labour is remunerated at the same rate across industries and it is therefore likely to appear as a uniform pool, irrespective of the industry in which it is employed.…”

Economics and Art Theory

“…The ideas and exposition in this section draw fromZambelli (2018);Venkatachalam and Zambelli (2021,a).…”