Exploitation theory
The exploitation theory is a theory which attempts to explain the origin of profits which accrue to capitalists as being the result of the curtailment of wages which should go to the laborer. The exploitation theory which is one of the pillars of Marxism, was also put forth by other economists in the 19th century such as the German socialist Johann Karl Rodbertus. The theory is based on the labor theory of value, or in other words the view that all goods that have value are the product of human labor. The conclusion of the labor theory of value led proponents of the exploitation theory to put forth the view that laborers, being the sole creaters of value, are entitled to the whole value of the goods they produce.[1] However, according the the exploitation theory, because the capitalists have control of the means of production, as a result of the institution of private property, they are able to force the laborer into a wage contract which only pays them a fraction of what they produce, the remainder going to the capitalist as profit.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk. "Capital and Interest: History and Critique of Interest Theories", 1959, page 241.
Links
- Exploitation theory at Wikipedia
- Classical Economics vs. The Exploitation Theory by George Reisman, January 2005