Average and marginal labour values are: on log (n) - a reply to Hagendorf

Cockshott, P. and Reifferscheidt, M. (2014) Average and marginal labour values are: on log (n) - a reply to Hagendorf. World Review of Political Economy, 5(2), pp. 258-275. (doi: 10.13169/worlrevipoliecon.5.2.0258)

Abstract

The article discusses Hagendorf’s contribution to the debate on average versus marginal labour costs as a metric of economic efficiency. It criticises his assumption of rising marginal costs and compares his position to that of other authorities. It provides arguments as to why marginal labour costs tend to fall in industrial economies. It then goes on to look at the practical viability of performing such calculations, using empirical data. These indicate that the non null elements of the technology matrix tend to grow as n log n, making the calculations tractable.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cockshott, Dr William
• Authors: Cockshott, P., and Reifferscheidt, M.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory; Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Journal Name: World Review of Political Economy
• Publisher: Pluto Journals
• ISSN: 2042-891X
• ISSN (Online): 2042-8928
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2014 Pluto Journals
• First Published: First published in World Review of Political Economy 5(2):258-275
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher