The purpose of the capitalist to produce goods is to make money. He invests in turnover with a certain amount of value to obtain a greater value.thisValue addedyesVariable capitalThat is, by employing workersGratuitous labourCreatedsurplus value。But for capitalists,Prepaid capitalAll components of are equally important to the production of surplus value. No matter where the surplus value comes from, it always exceedsCost priceThe above balance is also the balance that exceeds the total prepaid capital.This balance is the same as the total amount of prepaymentCapital maintenanceA ratio is the profit rate.If p 'represents the profit rate, m represents the residual value, and c represents theConstant capital, v represents variable capital, itsCalculation formulaMarx said: "The ratio of surplus value calculated by variable capital is calledResidual value ratio；The ratio of residual value calculated by total capital is called profit margin.These are two different calculation methods for the same quantity. Due to different calculation standards, they represent different ratios or relationships of the same quantity. "（《Complete Works of Marx and Engels》Vol. 25, p. 51).For every capitalist, what he often cares about is the profit rate. The prediction of the change of profit rate becomes his productionBusiness decisionThe most important basis of.Residual value ratioVariable capitalThe degree of proliferation, orindustrial capitalist The degree of exploitation of employed workers, which reflects theNew valueWhat is the ratio of distribution between capitalists and workers, thus reflectingcapitalismExploitative relationship.And the profit margin representsResidual valueThe ratio to the total prepaid capital, that is, the degree of capital increase, or the degree of capitalist profitability, is due to the totalcapital valueThere is no inherent and inevitable connection with surplus value, so the profit rate covers the capitalWage labourThe nature of exploitationCapital relationsMysterized.
Since the profit rate isResidual value ratioTherefore, the factors affecting the change of profit rate first depend on the level of residual value rate.Assuming other conditions remain unchanged, the profit rate is directly proportional to the residual value rate and inversely proportional to the total prepaid capital value.The profit rate also depends on the following three factors: ①Organic composition of capital。Under the condition that the residual value rate is fixed, the profit rate is inversely proportional to the level of the organic composition of capital, that is, the lower the organic composition of capital, a certain amount of capital is absorbedlabor spent in productionThe more, the moreResidual valueThe more, the higher the profit rate;Otherwise, the opposite is true. ②Capital turnover speed。The profit margin is generally calculated by one year.Assuming that other conditions (organic composition of capital, residual value rate, and length of working days) are the same, the annual profit rate is proportional to the speed of capital turnoverCapital turnover timeThe length of is inversely proportional.The faster the capital turnover, the same amountVariable capitalIn one year, more live labor can be promoted, so as to extract more surplus value and improve the profit margin;And vice versa. ③Constant capitalSaving in use.Such as at the expense of the health of the employed workersworking conditionsThe savings of can reduce the expenditure of constant capital, thus improving the profit margin;adopttechnical progressandlabour productivityThe improvement ofExcreta(waste residue, waste water, waste gas, etc.) reduction and comprehensive utilization can not only reduce the expenditure of constant capital, but also increase income, thus improving the profit margin;social labor productivityThe change in the price of raw materials will also pass the change in the components of the constant capital, especially the change in the price of raw materialsrelation between supply and demandAnd promote capital growth or depreciation (the same asMonetary valueAnd has a direct impact on the profit margin.If other conditions remain unchanged, the profit rate is inversely proportional to the price of raw materials.
Total sales profit andTotal sales revenueRatio of.It indicates the unitsales revenueThe profit obtained reflects the relationship between sales revenue and profit.
Total sales profit andCost of salesRatio of total amount.It indicates the profit obtained per unit cost of sales and reflects the relationship between cost and profit.
③ Profit rate of output value.
Total sales profit andtotal output valueThe ratio indicates the profit obtained per unit output value and reflects the relationship between output value and profit.
The ratio between the total sales profit and the average amount of funds used in a certain period.It indicates the sales profit obtained by unit capital, reflectingEnterprise fundsThe utilization effect of.
PeriodicNet profit（Profit after tax）AndNet salesRatio of.It indicates the ability of unit sales revenue to obtain after tax profit, and reflects the relationship between sales revenue and net profit.
major factor
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profit margin
The profit margin issurplus valueInto profits,Residual value ratioIt turns into profit rate.The profit rate is the residual value and the totalPrepaid capitalRatio of.Profit rate and residual value rate are the sameResidual valueDifferent ratios compared with different amounts of capital.The profit rate indicates the appreciation degree of all prepaid capital, and is always smaller than the residual value rate in quantity, thus concealingcapitalismDegree of exploitation.The profit rate changes frequently. The main factors that determine and affect the profit rate are:
★ First, residual value rate.Under the same other conditions, if the residual value rate is high, the profit rate will be high;On the contrary, the surplus value rate is low, and the profit rate is also low.Therefore, any method that can improve the residual value rate will increase the profit rate accordingly.
★ Second,Organic composition of capital。High organic composition of capital and low profit rate;The organic composition of capital is low and the profit rate is high.
★ Third, the speed of capital turnover.Capital turnover speedAccelerate and improverate of annual surplus valueAnd thus improve the annual profit margin.The annual profit rate of capital changes in the same direction as the speed of capital turnover.
Under the capitalist system, the profit rate has a trend of decreasing.This is because, withcapitalismThe development of large industry,Organic composition of capitalIt is constantly improving, which will inevitably lead to the decline of profit margin.However, this is only one aspect of the problem.In addition, we must also see that a series of factors are hindering and delaying the decline of profit margin.For example, with the development of capitalism, capitalists are increasingly exploiting workers;becauselabour productivityThe value of the means of production such as machines, equipment and raw materials is also declining.In addition,capitalist countryThrough foreign tradeUnequal exchangeCan also improve their profit margins.Therefore, Marx said: "Generally speaking, we have seen that the same reasons that cause the decline of general profit rate will have the opposite effect, hinder its decline, mitigate its decline, and make it weak in part... Therefore, this law only works as a tendency;Its role can only be clearly shown under certain circumstances and over a long period of time. "
It can be seen that although the profit rate has a downward trend, this is not equal to what the capitalist has gainedProfit volumeLess and less does not mean that the situation of workers can be improved more and more.This is by no means the case.It is precisely because of the law of declining profit rate that capital increasingly exploits wage labor, andcapitalist society InherentAntagonistic contradictionIncreasingly sharp.
