Das Kapital — Kap. 15 · semantic zoom

Intro

Voraussetzungen und drei variable Faktoren

Chapter 14 closed by rejecting political economy's explanations of profit that confuse its source with productive power, exchange, or individual advances. Chapter 15 now imposes specified conditions in order to analyse how labour-power's price and surplus-value vary.

Der Wert der Arbeitskraft ist bestimmt durch den Wert der gewohnheitsmäßig notwendigen Lebensmittel des Durchschnittsarbeiters. Die Masse dieser Lebensmittel, obgleich ihre Form wechseln mag, ist in einer bestimmten Epoche einer bestimmten Gesellschaft gegeben und daher als konstante Größe zu behandeln. Was wechselt, ist der Wert dieser Masse. Zwei andre Faktoren gehn in die Wertbestimmung der Arbeitskraft ein. Einerseits ihre Entwicklungskosten, die sich mit der Produktionsweise ändern, andrerseits ihre Naturdifferenz, ob sie männlich oder weiblich, reif oder unreif. Der Verbrauch dieser differenten Arbeitskräfte, wieder bedingt durch die Produktionsweise, macht großen Unterschied in den Reproduktionskosten der Arbeiterfamilie und dem Wert des erwachsnen männlichen Arbeiters. Beide Faktoren bleiben jedoch bei der folgenden Untersuchung ausgeschlossen.^9b

A customary baseline

The value of labour-power is determined by the value of the necessaries of life customarily required by the average worker. Their physical quantity is given for a particular society and period, although their form may change, and is therefore treated as constant. What changes is the value of that quantity. Two further factors enter into labour-power's value. One is the cost of developing labour-power, which changes with the mode of production. The other is its natural diversity: whether labour-power is male or female, mature or immature. The use of these different kinds of labour-power, itself conditioned by the mode of production, makes a great difference to the reproduction costs of the workers' family and to the value of adult male labour-power. Both factors are excluded from the following investigation. Engels's note to the third edition adds that the case treated on the earlier referenced page is likewise excluded here.

Wir unterstellen, 1. daß die Waren zu ihrem Wert verkauft werden, 2. daß der Preis der Arbeitskraft wohl gelegentlich über ihren Wert steigt, aber nie unter ihn sinkt.

Conditions of comparison

For what follows, commodities are assumed to sell at their value. Labour-power's price may occasionally rise above its value, but it is not assumed to fall below it.

Dies einmal unterstellt, fand sich, daß die relativen Größen von Preis der Arbeitskraft und von Mehrwert durch drei Umstände bedingt sind: 1. die Länge des Arbeitstags oder die extensive Größe der Arbeit; 2. die normale Intensität der Arbeit oder ihre intensive Größe, so daß ein bestimmtes Arbeitsquantum in bestimmter Zeit verausgabt wird; 3. endlich die Produktivkraft der Arbeit, so daß je nach dem Entwicklungsgrad der Produktionsbedingungen dasselbe Quantum Arbeit in derselben Zeit ein größeres oder kleineres Quantum Produkt liefert. Sehr verschiedne Kombinationen sind offenbar möglich, je nachdem einer der drei Faktoren konstant und zwei variabel, oder zwei Faktoren konstant und einer variabel, oder endlich alle gleichzeitig variabel sind. Diese Kombinationen werden noch dadurch vermannigfacht, daß bei gleichzeitiger Variation verschiedner Faktoren die Größe und Richtung der Variation verschieden sein können. Im folgenden sind nur die Hauptkombinationen dargestellt.

Three distinct variables

Given these assumptions, the relative sizes of labour-power's price and surplus-value depend on three circumstances: the length of the working day, the extensive magnitude of labour; the normal intensity of labour, its intensive magnitude, so that a given quantity of labour is expended in a given time; and the productive power of labour, so that the same labour in the same time yields a greater or smaller quantity of product as conditions of production develop. Many combinations are possible: one factor may stay constant while two vary, two may stay constant while one varies, or all three may vary together. When several vary, both the amount and direction of their changes may differ. Only the principal combinations are considered next.

§I·a

I. Variable Produktivkraft: die drei Gesetze

Having fixed the customary basket, price assumptions, and three variables, Chapter 15 now varies productive power while holding the working day and normal intensity fixed.

Unter dieser Voraussetzung sind Wert der Arbeitskraft und Mehrwert durch drei Gesetze bestimmt.

Three laws under stated conditions

Under the assumptions already fixed, the value of labour-power and the magnitude of surplus-value are determined by three laws.

Erstens: Der Arbeitstag von gegebner Größe stellt sich stets in demselben Wertprodukt dar, wie auch die Produktivität der Arbeit, mit ihr die Produktenmasse und daher der Preis der einzelnen Ware wechsle.

A fixed day, fixed new value

A working day of given length always creates the same amount of new value, even when productivity changes the mass of goods produced and the price of each commodity. This is the value-product created in the day, not the total value of the product: value transferred from constant capital is outside the calculation.

Das Wertprodukt eines zwölfstündigen Arbeitstags ist 6 sh. z.B., obgleich die Masse der produzierten Gebrauchswerte mit der Produktivkraft der Arbeit wechselt, der Wert von 6 sh. sich also über mehr oder weniger Waren verteilt.

Six shillings over more or fewer goods

If a 12-hour working day creates 6 shillings, it creates those 6 shillings whether productivity makes the resulting goods more numerous or less numerous. The same value is simply distributed over more or fewer articles.

Zweitens: Wert der Arbeitskraft und Mehrwert wechseln in umgekehrter Richtung zueinander. Wechsel in der Produktivkraft der Arbeit, ihre Zunahme oder Abnahme, wirkt in umgekehrter Richtung auf den Wert der Arbeitskraft und in direkter auf den Mehrwert.

Opposite directions

Surplus-value and the value of labour-power move in opposite directions. A change in productivity moves labour-power's value one way and surplus-value the other.

Das Wertprodukt des zwölfstündigen Arbeitstags ist eine konstante Größe, z.B. 6 sh. Diese konstante Größe ist gleich der Summe des Mehrwerts plus dem Wert der Arbeitskraft, den der Arbeiter durch ein Äquivalent ersetzt. Es ist selbstverständlich, daß von zwei Teilen einer konstanten Größe keiner zunehmen kann, ohne daß der andre abnimmt. Der Wert der Arbeitskraft kann nicht von 3 sh. auf 4 steigen, ohne daß der Mehrwert von 3 sh. auf 2 fällt, und der Mehrwert kann nicht von 3 auf 4 sh. steigen, ohne daß der Wert der Arbeitskraft von 3 sh. auf 2 fällt. Unter diesen Umständen also ist kein Wechsel in der absoluten Größe, sei es des Werts der Arbeitskraft, sei es des Mehrwerts, möglich ohne gleichzeitigen Wechsel ihrer relativen oder verhältnismäßigen Größen. Es ist unmöglich, daß sie gleichzeitig fallen oder steigen.

One fixed sum, two inverse parts

The value created by a 12-hour day remains a fixed 6 shillings. It is the sum of surplus-value and the value of labour-power, which the worker replaces by an equivalent. If one part grows, the other must shrink. Starting from 3 shillings for each part, labour-power's value can rise from 3 to 4 shillings only if surplus-value falls from 3 to 2; surplus-value can rise from 3 to 4 only if labour-power's value falls from 3 to 2. No absolute change in either is possible without a change in their relative sizes, and both cannot rise or fall together.

Der Wert der Arbeitskraft kann ferner nicht fallen, also der Mehrwert nicht steigen, ohne daß die Produktivkraft der Arbeit steigt, z.B. im obigen Fall kann der Wert der Arbeitskraft nicht von 3 auf 2 sh. sinken, ohne daß erhöhte Produktivkraft der Arbeit erlaubt, in 4 Stunden dieselbe Masse Lebensmittel zu produzieren, die vorher 6 Stunden zu ihrer Produktion erheischten. Umgekehrt kann der Wert der Arbeitskraft nicht von 3 auf 4 sh. steigen, ohne die Produktivkraft der Arbeit fällt, also 8 Stunden zur Produktion derselben Masse von Lebensmitteln erheischt sind, wozu früher 6 Stunden genügten. Es folgt hieraus, daß die Zunahme in der Produktivität der Arbeit den Wert der Arbeitskraft senkt und damit den Mehrwert steigert, während umgekehrt die Abnahme der Produktivität den Wert der Arbeitskraft steigert und den Mehrwert senkt.

Productivity and customary necessaries

Labour-power's value cannot fall, and surplus-value cannot rise, unless productivity rises in the production of the necessaries required to reproduce labour-power. Thus 3 shillings can fall to 2 only if the same quantity of customary necessaries can be produced in 4 hours rather than 6. Conversely, 3 can rise to 4 only if producing that same quantity requires 8 hours rather than 6. An increase in productivity therefore lowers labour-power's value and raises surplus-value; a decrease does the reverse. This concerns the value of labour-power, not an automatic movement of its market price.

Bei Formulierung dieses Gesetzes übersah Ricardo einen Umstand: Obgleich der Wechsel in der Größe des Mehrwerts oder der Mehrarbeit einen umgekehrten Wechsel in der Größe des Werts der Arbeitskraft oder der notwendigen Arbeit bedingt, folgt keineswegs, daß sie in derselben Proportion wechseln. Sie nehmen zu oder ab um dieselbe Größe. Das Verhältnis aber, worin jeder Teil des Wertprodukts oder des Arbeitstags zu- oder abnimmt, hängt von der ursprünglichen Teilung ab, die vor dem Wechsel in der Produktivkraft der Arbeit stattfand. War der Wert der Arbeitskraft 4 sh. oder die notwendige Arbeitszeit 8 Stunden, der Mehrwert 2 sh. oder die Mehrarbeit 4 Stunden und fällt, infolge erhöhter Produktivkraft der Arbeit, der Wert der Arbeitskraft auf 3 sh. oder die notwendige Arbeit auf 6 Stunden, so steigt der Mehrwert auf 3 sh. oder die Mehrarbeit auf 6 Stunden. Es ist dieselbe Größe von 2 Stunden oder 1 sh., die dort zugefügt, hier weggenommen wird. Aber der proportionelle Größenwechsel ist auf beiden Seiten verschieden. Während der Wert der Arbeitskraft von 4 sh. auf 3, also um 1 / 4 oder 25% sinkt, steigt der Mehrwert von 2 sh. auf 3, also um 1 / 2 oder 50%. Es folgt daher, daß die proportionelle Zu- oder Abnahme des Mehrwerts, infolge eines gegebnen Wechsels in der Produktivkraft der Arbeit, um so größer, je kleiner, und um so kleiner, je größer ursprünglich der Teil des Arbeitstags war, der sich in Mehrwert darstellt.

Ricardo's unequal percentages

Ricardo overlooked that opposite changes of equal size need not be proportionally equal. Their percentage size depends on the division before productivity changed. Suppose labour-power is worth 4 shillings and requires 8 necessary hours, while surplus-value is 2 shillings and surplus-labour 4 hours. If productivity lowers labour-power's value to 3 shillings and necessary labour to 6 hours, surplus-value rises to 3 shillings and surplus-labour to 6 hours. The same 1 shilling or 2 hours is removed on one side and added on the other. Yet 4 to 3 is a fall of 25%, while 2 to 3 is a rise of 50%. The smaller surplus-value's original share of the day, the larger its proportional change.

Drittens: Zu- oder Abnahme des Mehrwerts ist stets Folge und nie Grund der entsprechenden Ab- und Zunahme des Werts der Arbeitskraft.¹⁰

Consequence, never cause

An increase or decrease in surplus-value is always the consequence, never the cause, of the corresponding decrease or increase in the value of labour-power. MacCulloch's proposed exception does not alter this. Abolishing taxes formerly paid by the capitalist does not create surplus-value or alter its relation to the value of labour-power; it only redistributes the surplus-value already extracted between the capitalist and third persons. MacCulloch's exception therefore proves his misunderstanding of Ricardo's rule, a mishap like J. B. Say's vulgarisation of Adam Smith.

Da der Arbeitstag von konstanter Größe ist, sich in einer konstanten Wertgröße darstellt, jedem Größenwechsel des Mehrwerts ein umgekehrter Größenwechsel im Wert der Arbeitskraft entspricht und der Wert der Arbeitskraft nur wechseln kann mit einem Wechsel in der Produktivkraft der Arbeit, folgt unter diesen Bedingungen offenbar, daß jeder Größenwechsel des Mehrwerts aus einem umgekehrten Größenwechsel im Wert der Arbeitskraft entspringt. Wenn man daher gesehn, daß kein absoluter Größenwechsel im Wert der Arbeitskraft und des Mehrwerts möglich ist ohne einen Wechsel ihrer relativen Größen, so folgt jetzt, daß kein Wechsel ihrer relativen Wertgrößen möglich ist ohne einen Wechsel in der absoluten Wertgröße der Arbeitskraft.

The laws taken together

The working day is fixed and represented by a fixed value; every change in surplus-value corresponds to an inverse change in the value of labour-power; and labour-power's value changes only with productivity. Under these conditions, every change in surplus-value arises from an inverse change in labour-power's value. Since neither part can change absolutely without changing their relative sizes, no relative change is possible without a prior absolute change in labour-power's value.

Nach dem dritten Gesetz unterstellt der Größenwechsel des Mehrwerts eine durch Wechsel in der Produktivkraft der Arbeit verursachte Wertbewegung der Arbeitskraft. Die Grenze jenes Wechsels ist durch die neue Wertgrenze der Arbeitskraft gegebnen. Es können aber, auch wenn die Umstände dem Gesetz zu wirken erlauben, Zwischenbewegungen stattfinden. Fällt z.B. infolge erhöhter Produktivkraft der Arbeit der Wert der Arbeitskraft von 4 sh. auf 3 oder die notwendige Arbeitszeit von 8 Stunden auf 6, so könnte der Preis der Arbeitskraft nur auf 3 sh. 8 d., 3 sh. 6 d., 3 sh. 2 d. usw. fallen, der Mehrwert daher nur auf 3 sh. 4 d., 3 sh. 6 d., 3 sh. 10 d usw. steigen. Der Grad des Falls, dessen Minimalgrenze 3 sh., hängt von dem relativen Gewicht ab, das der Druck des Kapitals von der einen Seite, der Widerstand der Arbeiter von der andern Seite in die Waagschale wirft.

A boundary contested in practice

Under the third law, a change in surplus-value presupposes a productivity-driven movement in the value of labour-power. The new value sets the limit of the movement, but intermediate price movements can still occur. If labour-power's value falls from 4 to 3 shillings, or necessary labour from 8 to 6 hours, its price may fall only to 3s 8d, 3s 6d, or 3s 2d. The printed text gives the corresponding surplus-values as 3s 4d, 3s 6d, and 3s 10d. Those figures do not fit the fixed 6-shilling value-product established above; the corresponding arithmetic would be 2s 4d, 2s 6d, and 2s 10d. The lower boundary is 3 shillings, but the actual degree of the fall depends on the relative force of capital's pressure and workers' resistance.

§I·b

I. Preis, Wert und Lebensmittelmasse; Ricardos Ratenfehler

After the previous section derives the first three laws under a fixed working day and normal intensity, this section gives their closing price-and-basket guard and Ricardo critique before Chapter 15 turns to variations in labour intensity.

Der Wert der Arbeitskraft ist bestimmt durch den Wert eines bestimmten Quantums von Lebensmitteln. Was mit der Produktivkraft der Arbeit wechselt, ist der Wert dieser Lebensmittel, nicht ihre Masse. Die Masse selbst kann, bei steigender Produktivkraft der Arbeit, für Arbeiter und Kapitalist gleichzeitig und in demselben Verhältnis wachsen ohne irgendeinen Größenwechsel zwischen Preis der Arbeitskraft und Mehrwert. Ist der ursprüngliche Wert der Arbeitskraft 3 sh. und beträgt die notwendige Arbeitszeit 6 Stunden, ist der Mehrwert ebenfalls 3 sh. oder beträgt die Mehrarbeit auch 6 Stunden, so würde eine Verdopplung in der Produktivkraft der Arbeit, bei gleichbleibender Teilung des Arbeitstags, Preis der Arbeitskraft und Mehrwert unverändert lassen. Nur stellte sich jeder derselben in doppelt so vielen, aber verhältnismäßig verwohlfeilerten Gebrauchswerten dar. Obgleich der Preis der Arbeitskraft unverändert, wäre er über ihren Wert gestiegen. Fiele der Preis der Arbeitskraft, aber nicht bis zu der durch ihren neuen Wert gegebnen Minimalgrenze von 1 1 / 2 sh., sondern auf 2 sh. 10 d., 2 sh. 6 d. usw., so repräsentierte dieser fallende Preis immer noch eine wachsende Masse von Lebensmitteln. Der Preis der Arbeitskraft könnte so bei steigender Produktivkraft der Arbeit beständig fallen mit gleichzeitigem, fortwährendem Wachstum der Lebensmittelmasse des Arbeiters. Relativ aber, d.h. verglichen mit dem Mehrwert, sänke der Wert der Arbeitskraft beständig und erweiterte sich also die Kluft zwischen den Lebenslagen von Arbeiter und Kapitalist.¹¹

Value, price, and real basket

Labour-power's value is fixed by the value of a given quantity of necessaries. When the productive power of labour changes, what changes is the value of those necessaries, not necessarily their mass. As productive power rises, the labourer and capitalist can both obtain more necessaries in the same proportion without any change in the magnitude of labour-power's price or surplus-value. Start with labour-power valued at 3 shillings and six hours of necessary labour. Surplus-value is then also 3 shillings, with six hours of surplus-labour. If productive power doubles while the division of the working day is unchanged, neither the price of labour-power nor surplus-value changes in magnitude. Each now represents twice as many use-values, each use-value worth half its former value. The unchanged price of labour-power therefore stands above its new value. If its price falls, but only to 2s. 10d. or 2s. 6d. rather than the new lower limit of 1s. 6d., it still represents a growing mass of necessaries. Its price can keep falling as productive power rises while the labourer's means of subsistence continually grow. Yet, compared with surplus-value, labour-power's value falls and the distance between the labourer's and capitalist's conditions of life widens. As J. Cazenove notes, the proportion of wages can change while the quantity it represents stays the same, or the quantity can change while the proportion stays the same.

Ricardo hat die oben aufgestellten drei Gesetze zuerst streng formuliert. Die Mängel seiner Darstellung sind, 1. daß er die besondern Bedingungen, innerhalb deren jene Gesetze gelten, für die sich von selbst verstehenden, allgemeinen und ausschließlichen Bedingungen der kapitalistischen Produktion ansieht. Er kennt keinen Wechsel, weder in der Länge des Arbeitstags noch in der Intensität der Arbeit, so daß bei ihm die Produktivität der Arbeit von selbst zum einzigen variablen Faktor wird; - 2. aber, und dies verfälscht seine Analyse in viel höherem Grad, hat er ebensowenig wie die andern Ökonomen jemals den Mehrwert als solchen untersucht, d.h. unabhängig von seinen besondern Formen, wie Profit, Grundrente usw. Er wirft daher die Gesetze über die Rate des Mehrwerts unmittelbar zusammen mit den Gesetzen der Profitrate. Wie schon gesagt, ist die Profitrate das Verhältnis des Mehrwerts zum vorgeschossenen Gesamtkapital, während die Mehrwertsrate das Verhältnis ist des Mehrwerts zum bloß variablen Teil dieses Kapitals. Nimm an, ein Kapital von 500 Pfd.St. (C) teile sich in Rohstoffe, Arbeitsmittel etc. für zusammen 400 Pfd.St. (c) und in 100 Pfd.St. Arbeitslöhne (v); daß ferner der Mehrwert = 100 Pfd.St. (m). Dann ist die Mehrwertsrate m / v = 100 Pfd.St / 100 Pfd.St = 100%. Aber die Profitrate m / C = 100 Pfd.St. / 500 Pfd.St. = 20%. Es leuchtet außerdem ein, daß die Profitrate abhängen kann von Umständen, die keineswegs auf die Mehrwertsrate einwirken. Ich werde später im Dritten Buch dieser Schrift beweisen, daß dieselbe Rate des Mehrwerts sich in den verschiedensten Profitraten und verschiednen Raten des Mehrwerts, unter bestimmten Umständen, sich in derselben Profitrate ausdrücken können.

Ricardo's two rate errors

Ricardo was the first to formulate accurately the three laws stated above. His first mistake is to treat their special conditions as capitalism's general and exclusive conditions. He allows no change in the length of the working day or in the intensity of labour, so productive power becomes his only variable factor. More seriously, he never examines surplus-value as such, apart from its particular forms as profit, rent, and so on. He therefore runs together the laws of the rate of surplus-value and those of the profit rate. The profit rate is surplus-value divided by total capital advanced; the rate of surplus-value is surplus-value divided by the variable part of that capital. Take total capital C of £500: £400 constant capital, c, in raw materials and instruments; £100 variable capital, v, in wages; and £100 surplus-value, m. The rate of surplus-value is m/v = £100/£100 = 100%. The profit rate is m/C = £100/£500 = 20%. The profit rate may depend on circumstances that do not affect the rate of surplus-value; one rate of surplus-value can appear in different profit rates, and different rates of surplus-value can, under given conditions, appear in one profit rate. Source-text note: Moore–Aveling prints s/c = £100/£500. Since £500 is total capital, the intended notation is s/C, equivalent to German m/C; lowercase c denotes the £400 constant part in this same example.

§II

II. Konstanter Arbeitstag und Produktivkraft; variable Intensität

After the previous section closes the variation in productive power, this section turns to the second variable, labour intensity; the next section then lets the working day's length itself vary.

Wachsende Intensität der Arbeit unterstellt vermehrte Ausgabe von Arbeit in demselben Zeitraum. Der intensivere Arbeitstag verkörpert sich daher in mehr Produkten als der minder intensive von gleicher Stundenzahl. Mit erhöhter Produktivkraft liefert zwar auch derselbe Arbeitstag mehr Produkte. Aber im letztern Fall sinkt der Wert des einzelnen Produkts, weil es weniger Arbeit als vorher kostet, im erstern Fall bleibt er unverändert, weil das Produkt nach wie vor gleich viel Arbeit kostet. Die Anzahl der Produkte steigt hier ohne Fall ihres Preises. Mit ihrer Anzahl wächst ihre Preissumme, während dort dieselbe Wertsumme sich nur in vergrößerter Produktenmasse darstellt. Bei gleichbleibender Stundenzahl verkörpert sich also der intensivere Arbeitstag in höherem Wertprodukt, also, bei gleichbleibendem Wert des Geldes, in mehr Geld. Sein Wertprodukt variiert mit den Abweichungen seiner Intensität von dem gesellschaftlichen Normalgrad. Derselbe Arbeitstag stellt sich also nicht wie vorher in einem konstanten, sondern in einem variablen Wertprodukt dar, der intensivere, zwölfstündige Arbeitstag z.B. in 7 sh., 8 sh. usw. statt in 6 sh. wie der zwölfstündige Arbeitstag von gewöhnlicher Intensität. Es ist klar: Variiert das Wertprodukt des Arbeitstags, etwa von 6 auf 8 sh., so können beide Teile dieses Wertprodukts, Preis der Arbeitskraft und Mehrwert, gleichzeitig wachsen, sei es in gleichem oder ungleichem Grad. Preis der Arbeitskraft und Mehrwert können beide zur selben Zeit von 3 sh. auf 4 wachsen, wenn das Wertprodukt von 6 auf 8 steigt. Preiserhöhung der Arbeitskraft schließt hier nicht notwendig Steigerung ihres Preises über ihren Wert ein. Sie kann umgekehrt von einem Fall unter ihren Wert <4. Auflage: Fall ihres Werts> begleitet sein. Dies findet stets statt, wenn die Preiserhöhung der Arbeitskraft ihren beschleunigten Verschleiß nicht kompensiert.

Intensity and the value-product

Greater intensity means a greater expenditure of labour in the same time. A more intense working-day therefore yields more products than an equally long but less intense one. Increased productive power can also yield more products in the same day, but by a different route. There, each product costs less labour and its individual value falls: a given value is spread over more goods. With greater intensity, each product still costs the same labour and keeps the same value. More labour has been expended, so the number of goods and their total price sum both rise. With the hours fixed, the more intense day embodies a larger value-product and, if money's value is unchanged, more money. Its value-product varies with the extent to which intensity departs from the social normal. A twelve-hour day of ordinary intensity may create 6 shillings; a more intense twelve-hour day may create 7, 8, or more. If the value-product rises from 6 to 8 shillings, its two parts—labour-power's price and surplus-value—can both rise, equally or unequally. In the equal illustration, each rises from 3 to 4 shillings. A higher money price for labour-power does not by itself show that it stands above its value. It can accompany a fall below value when the increase does not compensate accelerated wear. The fourth-edition bracket states the alternate wording compactly: a fall in labour-power's value.

Man weiß, daß mit vorübergehenden Ausnahmen ein Wechsel in der Produktivität der Arbeit nur dann einen Wechsel in der Wertgröße der Arbeitskraft und daher in der Größe des Mehrwerts bewirkt, wenn die Produkte der betroffenen Industriezweige in den gewohnheitsmäßigen Konsum des Arbeiters eingehn. Diese Schranke fällt hier fort. Ob die Größe der Arbeit extensiv oder intensiv wechsle, ihrem Größenwechsel entspricht ein Wechsel in der Größe ihres Wertprodukts, unabhängig von der Natur des Artikels, worin sich dieser Wert darstellt.

The productivity limit falls away

Apart from temporary exceptions, a change in productive power changes labour-power's value, and therefore surplus-value, only when the products of the affected industries enter workers' customary consumption. That restriction does not govern a change in labour's own magnitude. Whether labour varies extensively in duration or intensively in density, its value-product changes whatever article embodies that value.

Steigerte sich die Intensität in allen Industriezweigen gleichzeitig und gleichmäßig, so würde der neue höhere Intensitätsgrad zum gewöhnlichen gesellschaftlichen Normalgrad und hörte damit auf, als extensive Größe zu zählen. Indes blieben selbst dann die durchschnittlichen Intensitätsgrade der Arbeit bei verschiednen Nationen verschieden und modifizierten daher die Anwendung des Wertgesetzes auf unterschiedne Nationalarbeitstage. Der intensivere Arbeitstag der einen Nation stellt sich in höherem Geldausdruck dar als der minder intensive der andren.¹²

A new normal and national working-days

If intensity rose equally and at once in every industry, the higher degree would become society's ordinary normal degree. It would then cease to count as an increase above that norm. Average intensities could nevertheless remain different among nations. Those differences modify the international application of the value-law: the more intense national working-day is represented by a larger sum of money than the less intense one. The attached factory-inspector report of 31 October 1855 says that 60 English weekly hours can turn out enough work in a given time to counterbalance 72–80 hours elsewhere. It proposes greater legal shortening of the working day in Continental factories as the surest means of reducing the qualitative difference between their hours and English ones.

§III

III. Konstante Produktivkraft und Intensität; variabler Arbeitstag

After the previous section varies intensity while keeping the working day's length fixed, this section lets the day itself shorten or lengthen; the next section then considers simultaneous variations in the variables.

Der Arbeitstag kann nach zwei Richtungen variieren. Er kann verkürzt oder verlängert werden.

Two directions of variation

The working day can vary in two directions. It can be shortened or lengthened.

1. Verkürzung des Arbeitstags unter den gegebenen Bedingungen, d.h. gleichbleibender Produktivkraft und Intensität der Arbeit, läßt den Wert der Arbeitskraft und daher die notwendige Arbeitszeit unverändert. Sie verkürzt die Mehrarbeit und den Mehrwert. Mit der absoluten Größe des letztren fällt auch seine relative Größe, d.h. seine Größe im Verhältnis zur gleichbleibenden Wertgröße der Arbeitskraft. Nur durch Herabdrückung ihres Preises unter ihren Wert könnte der Kapitalist sich schadlos halten.

Shortening under fixed conditions

If productive power and intensity remain unchanged, shortening the working day leaves labour-power's value, and therefore necessary labour time, unchanged. It shortens surplus-labour and reduces surplus-value. As surplus-value falls in absolute size, it also falls relative to labour-power's unchanged value. Capital could compensate itself only by depressing labour-power's price below its value.

Alle hergebrachten Redensarten wider die Verkürzung des Arbeitstags unterstellen, daß das Phänomen sich unter den hier vorausgesetzten Umständen ereignet, während in der Wirklichkeit umgekehrt Wechsel in der Produktivität und Intensität der Arbeit entweder der Verkürzung des Arbeitstags vorhergehn oder ihr unmittelbar nachfolgen.¹³

The assumption behind the objections

The usual arguments against shortening the working day assume that it occurs under the controlled conditions just stated. In reality, the reverse is the case: changes in productive power and intensity either precede a shortening or immediately follow it. An attached factory-inspector report of 31 October 1848 credits the working of the Ten Hours Act with bringing compensating circumstances to light.

2. Verlängerung des Arbeitstags: Die notwendige Arbeitszeit sei 6 Stunden oder der Wert der Arbeitskraft 3 sh., ebenso Mehrarbeit 6 Stunden und Mehrwert 3 sh. Der Gesamtarbeitstag beträgt dann 12 Stunden und stellt sich in einem Wertprodukt von 6 sh. dar. Wird der Arbeitstag um 2 Stunden verlängert und bleibt der Preis der Arbeitskraft unverändert, so wächst mit der absoluten die relative Größe des Mehrwerts. Obgleich die Wertgröße der Arbeitskraft absolut unverändert bleibt, fällt sie relativ. Unter den Bedingungen von I. konnte die relative Wertgröße der Arbeitskraft nicht wechseln ohne einen Wechsel ihrer absoluten Größe. Hier, im Gegenteil, ist der relative Größenwechsel im Wert der Arbeitskraft das Resultat eines absoluten Größenwechsels des Mehrwerts.

Lengthening and the relative fall

Suppose necessary labour is 6 hours, or labour-power is worth 3 shillings, and surplus-labour is likewise 6 hours, producing 3 shillings of surplus-value. The working day is then 12 hours and its value-product is 6 shillings. If the day is extended by 2 hours while labour-power's price remains unchanged, surplus-value grows both absolutely and relatively. Labour-power's value remains absolutely unchanged, yet falls relatively. Under the earlier conditions, labour-power could not change relatively without an absolute change in its value. Here the relative change in labour-power's value results, on the contrary, from an absolute change in surplus-value.

Da das Wertprodukt, worin sich der Arbeitstag darstellt, mit seiner eignen Verlängerung wächst, können Preis der Arbeitskraft und Mehrwert gleichzeitig wachsen, sei es um gleiches oder ungleiches Inkrement. Dies gleichzeitige Wachstum ist also in zwei Fällen möglich, bei absoluter Verlängerung des Arbeitstags und bei wachsender Intensität der Arbeit ohne solche Verlängerung.

Simultaneous growth

The value-product represented by a day's labour grows when that day is lengthened. Labour-power's price and surplus-value can therefore grow together, by equal or unequal amounts. Such simultaneous growth is possible in two cases: through an actual lengthening of the working day, or through greater intensity without any such lengthening.

Mit verlängertem Arbeitstag kann der Preis der Arbeitskraft unter ihren Wert fallen, obgleich er nominell unverändert bleibt oder selbst steigt. Der Tageswert der Arbeitskraft ist nämlich, wie man sich erinnern wird, geschätzt auf ihre normale Durchschnittsdauer oder die normale Lebensperiode des Arbeiters und auf entsprechenden, normalen, der Menschennatur angemessnen Umsatz von Lebenssubstanz in Bewegung.¹⁴ Bis zu einem gewissen Punkt kann der von Verlängerung des Arbeitstags untrennbare größere Verschleiß der Arbeitskraft durch größeren Ersatz kompensiert werden. Über diesen Punkt hinaus wächst der Verschleiß in geometrischer Progression und werden zugleich alle normalen Reproduktions- und Betätigungsbedingungen der Arbeitskraft zerstört. Der Preis der Arbeitskraft und ihr Exploitationsgrad hören auf, miteinander kommensurable Größen zu sein.

Price, replacement, and wear

With a longer working day, labour-power's price can fall below its value even if its nominal price remains unchanged or rises. The daily value of labour-power is measured by labour-power's normal average duration, or the worker's normal life-span, and by the corresponding normal transformation of bodily substance into movement fitting to human nature. The attached note from Grove proposes estimating a person's labour over 24 hours by examining chemical changes in the body, as changed matter indicates earlier expenditure of force. Up to a certain point, the greater wear inseparable from a longer day can be compensated by greater replacement. Beyond that point, wear grows geometrically and destroys every condition for labour-power's normal reproduction and functioning. Labour-power's price and its degree of exploitation then cease to be commensurable quantities.

§IV

IV. Gleichzeitige Variationen

After the previous section lets the working day's length vary alone, this section lets productive power, intensity, and the day vary together and closes Chapter 15; Chapter 16 next works out formulas for the rate of surplus-value.

Es ist hier offenbar eine große Anzahl Kombinationen möglich. Je zwei Faktoren können variieren und einer konstant bleiben, oder alle drei können gleichzeitig variieren. Sie können in gleichem oder ungleichem Grad variieren, in derselben oder entgegengesetzter Richtung, ihre Variationen sich daher teilweis oder ganz aufheben. Indes ist die Analyse aller möglichen Fälle nach den unter I, II und III gegebenen Aufschlüssen leicht. Man findet das Resultat jeder möglichen Kombination, indem man der Reihe nach je einen Faktor als variabel und die andren zunächst als konstant behandelt. Wir nehmen hier daher nur noch kurze Notiz von zwei wichtigen Fällen.

Many combinations, two cases chosen

A large number of combinations are clearly possible here. Any two of the three factors can vary while the third stays fixed, or all three can vary together. They can vary by the same or different amounts, in the same or opposite directions, so that their changes partly or wholly cancel each other out. Still, working out every possible case is easy once the results already given for I, II, and III are in hand: find the result of any combination by treating one factor at a time as variable and the other two as fixed for the moment. We will therefore note only two important cases here, and briefly.

1. Abnehmende Produktivkraft der Arbeit mit gleichzeitiger Verlängerung des Arbeitstags:

### A. Diminishing productiveness of labour with a simultaneous lengthening of the working-day.

Wenn wir hier von abnehmender Produktivkraft der Arbeit sprechen, so handelt es sich von Arbeitszweigen, deren Produkte den Wert der Arbeitskraft bestimmen, also z.B. von abnehmender Produktivkraft der Arbeit infolge zunehmender Unfruchtbarkeit des Bodens und entsprechender Verteurung der Bodenprodukte. Der Arbeitstag sei zwölfstündig, sein Wertprodukt 6 sh., wovon die Hälfte den Wert der Arbeitskraft ersetze, die andre Hälfte Mehrwert bilde. Der Arbeitstag zerfällt also in 6 Stunden notwendiger Arbeit und 6 Stunden Mehrarbeit. Infolge der Verteurung der Bodenprodukte steige der Wert der Arbeitskraft von 3 auf 4 sh., also die notwendige Arbeitszeit von 6 auf 8 Stunden. Bleibt der Arbeitstag unverändert, so fällt die Mehrarbeit von 6 auf 4 Stunden, der Mehrwert von 3 auf 2 sh. Wird der Arbeitstag um 2 Stunden verlängert, also von 12 auf 14 Stunden, so bleibt die Mehrarbeit 6 Stunden, der Mehrwert 3 sh., aber seine Größe fällt im Vergleich zum Wert der Arbeitskraft, gemessen durch die notwendige Arbeit. Wird der Arbeitstag um 4 Stunden verlängert, von 12 auf 16 Stunden, so bleiben die proportionellen Größen von Mehrwert und Wert der Arbeitskraft, Mehrarbeit und notwendiger Arbeit unverändert, aber die absolute Größe des Mehrwerts wächst von 3 auf 4 sh., die der Mehrarbeit von 6 auf 8 Arbeitsstunden, also um 1 / 3 oder 33 1 / 3 %. Bei abnehmender Produktivkraft der Arbeit und gleichzeitiger Verlängerung des Arbeitstags kann also die absolute Größe des Mehrwerts unverändert bleiben, während seine proportionelle Größe fällt; seine proportionelle Größe kann unverändert bleiben, während seine absolute Größe wächst, und, je nach dem Grad der Verlängerung, können beide wachsen.

Falling productive power, a longer day

Speaking of declining productive power here means industries whose products fix the value of labour-power — declining, say, because the soil grows less fertile and its produce dearer. Take a 12-hour working day whose value-product is 6 shillings, half replacing labour-power's value and half forming surplus-value: 6 hours of necessary labour and 6 hours of surplus-labour. Suppose dearer produce raises labour-power's value from 3 to 4 shillings, so necessary labour rises from 6 to 8 hours. If the working day stays at 12 hours, surplus-labour falls from 6 to 4 hours and surplus-value from 3 to 2 shillings. If the day is lengthened by 2 hours, to 14 hours, surplus-labour stays at 6 hours and surplus-value at 3 shillings, but that size now falls compared with labour-power's value, measured by necessary labour. If the day is lengthened by 4 hours, to 16 hours, the proportions between surplus-value and labour-power's value, and between surplus-labour and necessary labour, stay unchanged, but surplus-value's absolute size grows from 3 to 4 shillings and surplus-labour's from 6 to 8 hours — a rise of one third, or 33 1/3 percent. So with declining productive power and a lengthened working day together, surplus-value's absolute size can stay unchanged while its proportional size falls; its proportional size can stay unchanged while its absolute size grows; and, depending on how far the day is lengthened, both can grow at once.

Im Zeitraume von 1799 bis 1815 führten die steigenden Preise der Lebensmittel in England eine nominelle Lohnsteigerung herbei, obwohl die wirklichen, in Lebensmitteln ausgedrückten Arbeitslöhne fielen. Hieraus schlossen West und Ricardo, daß die Verminderung der Produktivität der Ackerbauarbeit ein Fallen der Mehrwertsrate verursacht hätte, und machten diese nur in ihrer Phantasie gültige Annahme zum Ausgangspunkt wichtiger Analysen über das relative Größenverhältnis von Arbeitslohn, Profit und Grundrente. Dank der gesteigerten Intensität der Arbeit und der erzwungenen Verlängerung der Arbeitszeit war aber der Mehrwert damals absolut und relativ gewachsen. Es war dies die Periode, worin die maßlose Verlängerung des Arbeitstags sich das Bürgerrecht erwarb¹⁵, die Periode, speziell charakterisiert durch beschleunigte Zunahme hier des Kapitals, dort des Pauperismus.¹⁶

Against West and Ricardo's inference

Between 1799 and 1815, rising food prices in England pushed nominal wages up even as real wages, reckoned in necessaries, fell. West and Ricardo drew from this the conclusion that a falling productivity of agricultural labour had lowered the rate of surplus-value, and made this assumption — one that held good only in their imagination — the starting point for major analyses of the relative shares of wages, profit, and rent. In fact, thanks to greater intensity of labour and a forced lengthening of the working day, surplus-value had grown at that time both absolutely and relatively. This was the period in which unlimited lengthening of the working day won the standing of an established right, the period marked above all by capital accumulating rapidly on one side and pauperism spreading on the other. An attached note credits Malthus with stressing this lengthening of hours, unlike Ricardo and others, who built their inquiries on an unchanging working day despite the plainest facts. Drawing on the 1814–15 parliamentary inquiry, Malthus argued that the labouring classes' extraordinary exertions in dear times, which drove wages down, favoured capital's growth and were admirable as temporary relief, but that no humane person could wish them constant: kept up without let-up, their effects would resemble those of a population pushed to the very limit of its subsistence. Yet the conservative interests he served stopped him from seeing that boundless lengthening of the day, combined with machinery's extraordinary development and the exploitation of women's and children's labour, was bound to make a large part of the working class "supernumerary" once wartime demand and England's world-market monopoly ended — and it suited the ruling classes whom Malthus idolized like a true priest far better to blame this "overpopulation" on eternal natural laws than on the merely historical natural laws of capitalist production. A second attached note traces a chief cause of capital's wartime growth to the labouring classes' greater exertions, and perhaps greater privations: poverty compelled more women and children into work, and drove those already working to give a larger share of their time to increasing output.

2. Zunehmende Intensität und Produktivkraft der Arbeit mit gleichzeitiger Verkürzung des Arbeitstags:

### B. Increasing intensity and productiveness of labour with simultaneous shortening of the working-day.

Gesteigerte Produktivkraft der Arbeit und ihre wachsende Intensität wirken nach einer Seite hin gleichförmig. Beide vermehren die in jedem Zeitabschnitt erzielte Produktenmasse. Beide verkürzen also den Teil des Arbeitstags, den der Arbeiter zur Produktion seiner Lebensmittel oder ihres Äquivalents braucht. Die absolute Minimalgrenze des Arbeitstags wird überhaupt gebildet durch diesen seinen notwendigen, aber kontraktiblen Bestandteil. Schrumpfte darauf der ganze Arbeitstag zusammen, so verschwände die Mehrarbeit, was unter dem Regime des Kapitals unmöglich. Die Beseitigung der kapitalistischen Produktionsform erlaubt, den Arbeitstag auf die notwendige Arbeit zu beschränken. Jedoch würde die letztre, unter sonst gleichbleibenden Umständen, ihren Raum ausdehnen. Einerseits weil die Lebensbedingungen des Arbeiters reicher und seine Lebensansprüche größer. Andrerseits würde ein Teil der jetzigen Mehrarbeit zur notwendigen Arbeit zählen, nämlich die zur Erzielung eines gesellschaftlichen Reserve- und Akkumulationsfonds nötige Arbeit.

The day's minimum, outside capital

Increased productive power of labour and its growing intensity work alike in one respect. Both increase the mass of products turned out in any given period. Both therefore shorten the part of the working day the worker needs to produce their means of subsistence, or its equivalent. That necessary but contractible part is what forms the absolute minimum length of the working day. If the whole day shrank down to it, surplus-labour would vanish — something impossible under the rule of capital. Doing away with the capitalist form of production would let the working day be limited to necessary labour. Even so, necessary labour would expand its own space, other things staying equal. On one side, because the worker's conditions of life would be richer and their claims on life greater. On the other, because part of what is now surplus-labour would then count as necessary labour — the labour needed to build a social reserve and accumulation fund.

Je mehr die Produktivkraft der Arbeit wächst, um so mehr kann der Arbeitstag verkürzt werden, und je mehr der Arbeitstag verkürzt wird, desto mehr kann die Intensität der Arbeit wachsen. Gesellschaftlich betrachtet, wächst die Produktivität der Arbeit auch mit ihrer Ökonomie. Diese schließt nicht nur die Ökonomisierung der Produktionsmittel ein, sondern die Vermeidung aller nutzlosen Arbeit. Während die kapitalistische Produktionsweise in jedem individuellen Geschäft Ökonomie erzwingt, erzeugt ihr anarchisches System der Konkurrenz die maßloseste Verschwendung der gesellschaftlichen Produktionsmittel und Arbeitskräfte, neben einer Unzahl jetzt unentbehrlicher, aber an und für sich überflüssiger Funktionen.

Social economy against capitalist waste

The more productive power grows, the more the working day can shorten; and the more the working day shortens, the more intensity of labour can grow. Seen from a social standpoint, the productive power of labour also grows with its economy. That economy includes not only economizing the means of production but avoiding all useless labour. While the capitalist mode of production forces economy within each individual business, its anarchic system of competition produces the most extravagant waste of society's means of production and labour-power, alongside a host of functions that are now indispensable yet in themselves superfluous.

Intensität und Produktivkraft der Arbeit gegeben, ist der zur materiellen Produktion notwendige Teil des gesellschaftlichen Arbeitstags um so kürzer, der für freie, geistige und gesellschaftliche Betätigung der Individuen eroberte Zeitteil also um so größer, je gleichmäßiger die Arbeit unter alle werkfähigen Glieder der Gesellschaft verteilt, je weniger eine Gesellschaftsschichte die Naturnotwendigkeit der Arbeit von sich selbst ab- und einer andren Schichte zuwälzen kann. Die absolute Grenze für die Verkürzung des Arbeitstags ist nach dieser Seite hin die Allgemeinheit der Arbeit. In der kapitalistischen Gesellschaft wird freie Zeit für eine Klasse produziert durch Verwandlung aller Lebenszeit der Massen in Arbeitszeit.

Free time's condition, shared labour

Given a fixed intensity and productive power of labour, the part of the social working day needed for material production is shorter, and the part of time won for individuals' free intellectual and social activity is therefore greater, the more evenly labour is divided among all members of society able to work, and the less one layer of society can shift labour's natural necessity off itself and onto another layer. Seen from this side, the absolute limit to shortening the working day is the universality of labour. In capitalist society, free time is produced for one class by turning all of the masses' life-time into labour-time.

Intro

Assumptions and the Three Variable Factors

The value of labour-power is determined by the value of the necessaries of life habitually required by the average labourer. The quantity of these necessaries is known at any given epoch of a given society, and can therefore be treated as a constant magnitude. What changes, is the value of this quantity. There are, besides, two other factors that enter into the determination of the value of labour-power. One, the expenses of developing that power, which expenses vary with the mode of production; the other, its natural diversity, the difference between the labour-power of men and women, of children and adults. The employment of these different sorts of labour-power, an employment which is, in its turn, made necessary by the mode of production, makes a great difference in the cost of maintaining the family of the labourer, and in the value of the labour-power of the adult male. Both these factors, however, are excluded in the following investigation. ¹

A customary baseline

I assume (1) that commodities are sold at their value; (2) that the price of labour-power rises occasionally above its value, but never sinks below it.

Conditions of comparison

For what follows, commodities are assumed to sell at their value. Labour-power's price may occasionally rise above its value, but it is not assumed to fall below it.

On this assumption we have seen that the relative magnitudes of surplus-value and of price of labour-power are determined by three circumstances; (1) the length of the working-day, or the extensive magnitude of labour; (2) the normal intensity of labour, its intensive magnitude, whereby a given quantity of labour is expended in a given time; (3) the productiveness of labour, whereby the same quantum of labour yields, in a given time, a greater or less quantum of product, dependent on the degree of development in the conditions of production. Very different combinations are clearly possible, according as one of the three factors is constant and two variable, or two constant and one variable, or lastly, all three simultaneously variable. And the number of these combinations is augmented by the fact that, when these factors simultaneously vary, the amount and direction of their respective variations may differ. In what follows the chief combinations alone are considered.

Three distinct variables

§I·a

Section 1A - Variable Productiveness: The Three Laws

Having fixed the customary basket, price assumptions, and three variables, Chapter 15 now varies productive power while holding the working day and normal intensity fixed.

On these assumptions the value of labour-power, and the magnitude of surplus-value, are determined by three laws.

Three laws under stated conditions

Under the assumptions already fixed, the value of labour-power and the magnitude of surplus-value are determined by three laws.

(1.) A working day of given length always creates the same amount of value, no matter how the productiveness of labour, and, with it, the mass of the product, and the price of each single commodity produced, may vary.

A fixed day, fixed new value

If the value created by a working-day of 12 hours be, say, six shillings, then, although the mass of the articles produced varies with the productiveness of labour, the only result is that the value represented by six shillings is spread over a greater or less number of articles.

Six shillings over more or fewer goods

(2.) Surplus-value and the value of labour-power vary in opposite directions. A variation in the productiveness of labour, its increase or diminution, causes a variation in the opposite direction in the value of labour-power, and in the same direction in surplus-value.

Opposite directions

Surplus-value and the value of labour-power move in opposite directions. A change in productivity moves labour-power's value one way and surplus-value the other.

The value created by a working day of 12 hours is a constant quantity, say, six shillings. This constant quantity is the sum of the surplus-value plus the value of the labour-power, which latter value the labourer replaces by an equivalent. It is self-evident, that if a constant quantity consists of two parts, neither of them can increase without the other diminishing. Let the two parts at starting be equal; 3 shillings value of labour-power, 3 shillings surplus-value. Then the value of the labour-power cannot rise from three shillings to four, without the surplus-value falling from three shillings to two; and the surplus-value cannot rise from three shillings to four, without the value of labour-power falling from three shillings to two. Under these circumstances, therefore, no change can take place in the absolute magnitude, either of the surplus-value, or of the value of labour-power, without a simultaneous change in their relative magnitudes, i.e., relatively to each other. It is impossible for them to rise or fall simultaneously.

One fixed sum, two inverse parts

Further, the value of labour-power cannot fall, and consequently surplus-value cannot rise, without a rise in the productiveness of labour. For instance, in the above case, the value of the labour-power cannot sink from three shillings to two, unless an increase in the productiveness of labour makes it possible to produce in 4 hours the same quantity of necessaries as previously required 6 hours to produce. On the other hand, the value of the labour-power cannot rise from three shillings to four, without a decrease in the productiveness of labour, whereby eight hours become requisite to produce the same quantity of necessaries, for the production of which six hours previously sufficed. It follows from this, that an increase in the productiveness of labour causes a fall in the value of labour-power and a consequent rise in surplus-value, while, on the other hand, a decrease in such productiveness causes a rise in the value of labour-power, and a fall in surplus-value.

Productivity and customary necessaries

In formulating this law, Ricardo overlooked one circumstance; although a change in the magnitude of the surplus-value or surplus-labour causes a change in the opposite direction in the magnitude of the value of labour-power, or in the quantity of necessary labour, it by no means follows that they vary in the same proportion. They do increase or diminish by the same quantity. But their proportional increase or diminution depends on their original magnitudes before the change in the productiveness of labour took place. If the value of the labour-power be 4 shillings, or the necessary labour time 8 hours, and the surplus-value be 2 shillings, or the surplus-labour 4 hours, and if, in consequence of an increase in the productiveness of labour, the value of the labour-power fall to 3 shillings, or the necessary labour to 6 hours, the surplus-value will rise to 3 shillings, or the surplus-labour to 6 hours. The same quantity, 1 shilling or 2 hours, is added in one case and subtracted in the other. But the proportional change of magnitude is different in each case. While the value of the labour-power falls from 4 shillings to 3, i.e., by 1/4 or 25%, the surplus-value rises from 2 shillings to 3, i.e., by 1/2 or 50%. It therefore follows that the proportional increase or diminution in surplus-value, consequent on a given change in the productiveness of labour, depends on the original magnitude of that portion of the working day which embodies itself in surplus-value; the smaller that portion, the greater is the proportional change; the greater that portion, the less is the proportional change.

Ricardo's unequal percentages

(3.) Increase or diminution in surplus-value is always consequent on, and never the cause of, the corresponding diminution or increase in the value of labour-power. ²

Consequence, never cause

Since the working-day is constant in magnitude, and is represented by a value of constant magnitude, since, to every variation in the magnitude of surplus-value, there corresponds an inverse variation in the value of labour-power, and since the value of labour-power cannot change, except in consequence of a change in the productiveness of labour, it clearly follows, under these conditions, that every change of magnitude in surplus-value arises from an inverse change of magnitude in the value of labour-power. If, then, as we have already seen, there can be no change of absolute magnitude in the value of labour-power, and in surplus-value, unaccompanied by a change in their relative magnitudes, so now it follows that no change in their relative magnitudes is possible, without a previous change in the absolute magnitude of the value of labour-power.

The laws taken together

According to the third law, a change in the magnitude of surplus-value, presupposes a movement in the value of labour-power, which movement is brought about by a variation in the productiveness of labour. The limit of this change is given by the altered value of labour-power. Nevertheless, even when circumstances allow the law to operate, subsidiary movements may occur. For example: if in consequence of the increased productiveness of labour, the value of labour-power falls from 4 shillings to 3, or the necessary labour time from 8 hours to 6, the price of labour-power may possibly not fall below 3s. 8d., 3s. 6d., or 3s. 2d., and the surplus-value consequently not rise above 3s. 4d., 3s. 6d., or 3s. 10d. The amount of this fall, the lowest limit of which is 3 shillings (the new value of labour-power), depends on the relative weight, which the pressure of capital on the one side, and the resistance of the labourer on the other, throws into the scale.

A boundary contested in practice

§I·b

Section 1B - Price, Value, Real Basket, and Ricardo's Rate Error

The value of labour-power is determined by the value of a given quantity of necessaries. It is the value and not the mass of these necessaries that varies with the productiveness of labour. It is, however, possible that, owing to an increase of productiveness, both the labourer and the capitalist may simultaneously be able to appropriate a greater quantity of these necessaries, without any change in the price of labour-power or in surplus-value. If the value of labour-power be 3 shillings, and the necessary labour time amount to 6 hours, if the surplus-value likewise be 3 shillings, and the surplus-labour 6 hours, then if the productiveness of labour were doubled without altering the ratio of necessary labour to surplus-labour, there would be no change of magnitude in surplus-value and price of labour-power. The only result would be that each of them would represent twice as many use-values as before; these use-values being twice as cheap as before. Although labour-power would be unchanged in price, it would be above its value. If, however, the price of labour-power had fallen, not to 1s. 6d., the lowest possible point consistent with its new value, but to 2s. 10d. or 2s. 6d., still this lower price would represent an increased mass of necessaries. In this way it is possible with an increasing productiveness of labour, for the price of labour-power to keep on falling, and yet this fall to be accompanied by a constant growth in the mass of the labourer's means of subsistence. But even in such case, the fall in the value of labour-power would cause a corresponding rise of surplus-value, and thus the abyss between the labourer's position and that of the capitalist would keep widening. ³

Value, price, and real basket

Ricardo was the first who accurately formulated the three laws we have above stated. But he falls into the following errors: (1) he looks upon the special conditions under which these laws hold good as the general and sole conditions of capitalist production. He knows no change, either in the length of the working-day, or in the intensity of labour; consequently with him there can be only one variable factor, viz., the productiveness of labour; (2), and this error vitiates his analysis much more than (1), he has not, any more than have the other economists, investigated surplus-value as such, i.e., independently of its particular forms, such as profit, rent, &c. He therefore confounds together the laws of the rate of surplus-value and the laws of the rate of profit. The rate of profit is, as we have already said, the ratio of the surplus-value to the total capital advanced; the rate of surplus-value is the ratio of the surplus-value to the variable part of that capital. Assume that a capital C of £500 is made up of raw material, instruments of labour, &c. (c) to the amount of £400; and of wages (v) to the amount of £100; and further, that the surplus-value (s) = £100. Then we have rate of surplus-value s/v = £100/£100 = 100%. But the rate of profit s/c = £100/£500 = 20%. It is, besides, obvious that the rate of profit may depend on circumstances that in no way affect the rate of surplus-value. I shall show in Book III. that, with a given rate of surplus-value, we may have any number of rates of profit, and that various rates of surplus-value may, under given conditions, express themselves in a single rate of profit.

Ricardo's two rate errors

§II

Section 2 - Constant Working-Day and Productiveness; Variable Intensity

After the previous section closes the variation in productive power, this section turns to the second variable, labour intensity; the next section then lets the working day's length itself vary.

Increased intensity of labour means increased expenditure of labour in a given time. Hence a working-day of more intense labour is embodied in more products than is one of less intense labour, the length of each day being the same. Increased productiveness of labour also, it is true, will supply more products in a given working-day. But in this latter case, the value of each single product falls, for it costs less labour than before; in the former case, that value remains unchanged, for each article costs the same labour as before. Here we have an increase in the number of products, unaccompanied by a fall in their individual prices: as their number increases, so does the sum of their prices. But in the case of increased productiveness, a given value is spread over a greater mass of products. Hence the length of the working-day being constant, a day's labour of increased intensity will be incorporated in an increased value, and, the value of money remaining unchanged, in more money. The value created varies with the extent to which the intensity of labour deviates from its normal intensity in the society. A given working-day, therefore, no longer creates a constant, but a variable value; in a day of 12 hours of ordinary intensity, the value created is, say 6 shillings, but with increased intensity, the value created may be 7, 8, or more shillings. It is clear that, if the value created by a day's labour increases from, say, 6 to 8 shillings then the two parts into which this value is divided, viz., price of labour-power and surplus-value, may both of them increase simultaneously, and either equally or unequally. They may both simultaneously increase from 3 shillings to 4. Here, the rise in the price of labour-power does not necessarily imply that the price has risen above the value of labour-power. On the contrary, the rise in price may be accompanied by a fall in value. This occurs whenever the rise in the price of labour-power does not compensate for its increased wear and tear.

Intensity and the value-product

We know that, with transitory exceptions, a change in the productiveness of labour does not cause any change in the value of labour-power, nor consequently in the magnitude of surplus-value, unless the products of the industries affected are articles habitually consumed by the labourers. In the present case this condition no longer applies. For when the variation is either in the duration or in the intensity of labour, there is always a corresponding change in the magnitude of the value created, independently of the nature of the article in which that value is embodied.

The productivity limit falls away

If the intensity of labour were to increase simultaneously and equally in every branch of industry, then the new and higher degree of intensity would become the normal degree for the society, and would therefore cease to be taken account of. But still, even then, the intensity of labour would be different in different countries, and would modify the international application of the law of value. The more intense working-day of one nation would be represented by a greater sum of money than would the less intense day of another nation. ⁴

A new normal and national working-days

§III

Section 3 - Constant Productiveness and Intensity; Variable Working-Day

The working-day may vary in two ways. It may be made either longer or shorter. From our present data, and within the limits of the assumptions made on p. 487 [v. 35 MECW p. 520] we obtain the following laws:

(1.) The working-day creates a greater or less amount of value in proportion to its length — thus, a variable and not a constant quantity of value.

(2.) Every change in the relation between the magnitudes of surplus-value and of the value of labour-power arises from a change in the absolute magnitude of the surplus-labour, and consequently of the surplus-value.

(3.) The absolute value of labour-power can change only in consequence of the reaction exercised by the prolongation of surplus-labour upon the wear and tear of labour-power. Every change in this absolute value is therefore the effect, but never the cause, of a change in the magnitude of surplus-value.

We begin with the case in which the working-day is shortened.

Two directions of variation

The working day can vary in two directions. It can be shortened or lengthened.

(1.) A shortening of the working-day under the conditions given above, leaves the value of labour-power, and with it, the necessary labour time, unaltered. It reduces the surplus-labour and surplus-value. Along with the absolute magnitude of the latter, its relative magnitude also falls, i.e., its magnitude relatively to the value of labour-power whose magnitude remains unaltered. Only by lowering the price of labour-power below its value could the capitalist save himself harmless.

Shortening under fixed conditions

All the usual arguments against the shortening of the working-day, assume that it takes place under the conditions we have here supposed to exist; but in reality the very contrary is the case: a change in the productiveness and intensity of labour either precedes, or immediately follows, a shortening of the working-day. ⁵

The assumption behind the objections

(2.) Lengthening of the working-day. Let the necessary labour time be 6 hours, or the value of labour-power 3 shillings; also let the surplus-labour be 6 hours or the surplus-value 3 shillings. The whole working-day then amounts to 12 hours and is embodied in a value of 6 shillings. If, now, the working-day be lengthened by 2 hours and the price of labour-power remain unaltered, the surplus-value increases both absolutely and relatively. Although there is no absolute change in the value of labour-power, it suffers a relative fall. Under the conditions assumed in 1. there could not be a change of relative magnitude in the value of labour-power without a change in its absolute magnitude. Here, on the contrary, the change of relative magnitude in the value of labour-power is the result of the change of absolute magnitude in surplus-value.

Lengthening and the relative fall

Since the value in which a day's labour is embodied, increases with the length of that day, it is evident that the surplus-value and the price of labour-power may simultaneously increase, either by equal or unequal quantities. This simultaneous increase is therefore possible in two cases, one, the actual lengthening of the working-day, the other, an increase in the intensity of labour unaccompanied by such lengthening.

Simultaneous growth

When the working-day is prolonged, the price of labour-power may fall below its value, although that price be nominally unchanged or even rise. The value of a day's labour-power is, as will be remembered, estimated from its normal average duration, or from the normal duration of life among the labourers, and from corresponding normal transformations of organised bodily matter into motion, ⁶ in conformity with the nature of man. Up to a certain point, the increased wear and tear of labour-power, inseparable from a lengthened working-day, may be compensated by higher wages. But beyond this point the wear and tear increases in geometrical progression, and every condition suitable for the normal reproduction and functioning of labour-power is suppressed. The price of labour-power and the degree of its exploitation cease to be commensurable quantities.

Price, replacement, and wear

§IV

Section 4 - Simultaneous Variations

It is obvious that a large number of combinations are here possible. Any two of the factors may vary and the third remain constant, or all three may vary at once. They may vary either in the same or in different degrees, in the same or in opposite directions, with the result that the variations counteract one another, either wholly or in part. Nevertheless the analysis of every possible case is easy in view of the results given in I., II., and III. The effect of every possible combination may be found by treating each factor in turn as variable, and the other two constant for the time being. We shall, therefore, notice, and that briefly, but two important cases.

Many combinations, two cases chosen

### A. Diminishing productiveness of labour with a simultaneous lengthening of the working-day.

In speaking of diminishing productiveness of labour, we here refer to diminution in those industries whose products determine the value of labour-power; such a diminution, for example, as results from decreasing fertility of the soil, and from the corresponding dearness of its products. Take the working-day at 12 hours and the value created by it at 6 shillings, of which one half replaces the value of the labour-power, the other forms the surplus-value. Suppose, in consequence of the increased dearness of the products of the soil, that the value of labour-power rises from 3 shillings to 4, and therefore the necessary labour time from 6 hours to 8. If there be no change in the length of the working-day, the surplus-labour would fall from 6 hours to 4, the surplus-value from 3 shillings to 2. If the day be lengthened by 2 hours, i.e., from 12 hours to 14, the surplus-labour remains at 6 hours, the surplus-value at 3 shillings [note], but the surplus-value decreases compared with the value of labour-power, as measured by the necessary labour time. If the day be lengthened by 4 hours, viz., from 12 hours to 16, the proportional magnitudes of surplus-value and value of labour-power, of surplus-labour and necessary labour, continue unchanged, but the absolute magnitude of surplus-value rises from 3 shillings to 4, that of the surplus-labour from 6 hours to 8, an increment of 33 1/3%. Therefore, with diminishing productiveness of labour and a simultaneous lengthening of the working-day, the absolute magnitude of surplus-value may continue unaltered, at the same time that its relative magnitude diminishes; its relative magnitude may continue unchanged, at the same time that its absolute magnitude increases; and, provided the lengthening of the day be sufficient, both may increase.

Falling productive power, a longer day

In the period between 1799 and 1815 the increasing price of provisions led in England to a nominal rise in wages, although the real wages, expressed in the necessaries of life, fell. From this fact West and Ricardo drew the conclusion, that the diminution in the productiveness of agricultural labour had brought about a fall in the rate of surplus-value, and they made this assumption of a fact that existed only in their imaginations, the starting-point of important investigations into the relative magnitudes of wages, profits, and rent. But, as a matter of fact, surplus-value had at that time, thanks to the increased intensity of labour, and to the prolongation of the working-day, increased both in absolute and relative magnitude. This was the period in which the right to prolong the hours of labour to an outrageous extent was established; ⁷ the period that was especially characterised by an accelerated accumulation of capital here, by pauperism there. ⁸

Against West and Ricardo's inference

### B. Increasing intensity and productiveness of labour with simultaneous shortening of the working-day.

Increased productiveness and greater intensity of labour, both have a like effect. They both augment the mass of articles produced in a given time. Both, therefore, shorten that portion of the working-day which the labourer needs to produce his means of subsistence or their equivalent. The minimum length of the working-day is fixed by this necessary but contractile portion of it. If the whole working-day were to shrink to the length of this portion, surplus-labour would vanish, a consummation utterly impossible under the régime of capital. Only by suppressing the capitalist form of production could the length of the working-day be reduced to the necessary labour time. But, even in that case, the latter would extend its limits. On the one hand, because the notion of “means of subsistence” would considerably expand, and the labourer would lay claim to an altogether different standard of life. On the other hand, because a part of what is now surplus-labour, would then count as necessary labour; I mean the labour of forming a fund for reserve and accumulation.

The day's minimum, outside capital

The more the productiveness of labour increases, the more can the working-day be shortened; and the more the working-day is shortened, the more can the intensity of labour increase. From a social point of view, the productiveness increases in the same ratio as the economy of labour, which, in its turn, includes not only economy of the means of production, but also the avoidance of all useless labour. The capitalist mode of production, while on the one hand, enforcing economy in each individual business, on the other hand, begets, by its anarchical system of competition, the most outrageous squandering of labour-power and of the social means of production, not to mention the creation of a vast number of employments, at present indispensable, but in themselves superfluous.

Social economy against capitalist waste

The intensity and productiveness of labour being given, the time which society is bound to devote to material production is shorter, and as a consequence, the time at its disposal for the free development, intellectual and social, of the individual is greater, in proportion as the work is more and more evenly divided among all the able-bodied members of society, and as a particular class is more and more deprived of the power to shift the natural burden of labour from its own shoulders to those of another layer of society. In this direction, the shortening of the working-day finds at last a limit in the generalisation of labour. In capitalist society spare time is acquired for one class by converting the whole life-time of the masses into labour time.

Free time's condition, shared labour