Labor commodity is an important category of Marxist political economy. Marx's judgment on the particularity of labor commodity isSurplus value theoryandLabor axiologyLaid a scientific foundation.A comprehensive understanding of the particularity of labor commodity has important theoretical significance and practical value for a complete and accurate understanding of Marxist economic theory, a correct understanding and scientific management of labor, and the use of labor as a factor of production.
It must have two conditions: one is that the owner of labor force is a "free person" who can freely control his own labor force;Second, he must have nothing but his own labor force and have to sell them to make a living.
Labor is a commodity, which has the same use value and value as other commodities.The value of labor commodity is determined byreproductionLabor commoditySocially necessary labor timeDetermined.The value of labor commodity consists of three parts: the value of the means of subsistence necessary for the survival of the laborer to reproduce his labor force;The value of the means of subsistence necessary for workers to reproduce, so as to continue the supply of labor;The expenses paid by workers for education and training are used to train the labor force suitable for capitalist reproduction.The value of labor commodity is also affected by historical and moral factors.[1]
Marx's exposition on the particularity of labor commodity
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For a long time, the theoretical circle of our country has understood the particularity of labor commodity in this way. As a special commodity, labor has a special use value. Its use can create value, and can create greater value than its own value.[1]We believe that there are obvious problems in this understanding and expression:
First, all commodities have value and use value.(The specific labor of human beings endows the use value of commodities, and the abstract labor condenses in commodities to form the value of commodities.) As the value of commodities, it is the condensation of human general labor and the embodiment of human specific labor.Because of this, they can compare in quantitycommodity exchangeIt's possible.The use value of each specific commodity is different, and they can meet people's different needs, which makes the exchange of commodities necessary.Otherwise, the product of labor as exchange - commodity will not exist.In this sense, each commodity has its special use value. For example, the use value of clothes is different from that of rice, and the use value of rice is different from that of labor.Clothes can be worn but cannot be used to satisfy people's hunger needs;Rice can satisfy hunger but cannot be used to meet people's needs for warmth or beauty;Labor can work and create value, but it can neither be used for eating nor for clothing.It can be seen that the special use value is the common attribute of commodities, and there is no difference between labor commodities and other commodities in this regard.So, where is the particularity of labor force?
In Capital, when talking about how money is transformed into capital, Marx wrote: "To obtain value from the use of goods, our money owners must be lucky to find such a commodity in the circulation field that is, in the market (that is, labor commodity, note)Its use value itself has the special attribute of becoming the source of value. Therefore, its actual use itself is the materialization of labor, and therefore the creation of value ".Here, Marx did not simply attribute the particularity of labor force, a special commodity, to its special use value, but correctly expressed its particularity as "use value itself has a special attribute that becomes the source of value".Marx discussed the use value of labor commodity in this way;"What is decisive is the unique use value of this commodity, that is, it is the source of value, and is greater than its own value."."Labor is a special commodity with unique use value, which can provide labor and thus create value".Here, why did Marx use "unique use value" instead of "special use value"?The word "unique" really distinguishes labor force, a special commodity, from other commodities in essence. The most important reason why labor force becomes a special commodity is that it has unique use value (relative to the use value of other ordinary commodities),There are special attributes in the use process (compared with the attributes of the use value of other commodities in the use process). The use process of other commodities is the process of people's consumption of commodities, while the use process of labor commodity is a process of creating value. Labor can create value in the use process,And can create a value greater than its own value.[1]
It is inaccurate and unscientific to attribute the particularity of labor commodity to its special use value.This conclusion and expression equates the use value of goods and the attributes of their use value in the use process, which not only causes logical confusion, but also increases the difficulty for people to correctly understand the particularity of labor commodity.
Second, it is not comprehensive to only understand the particularity of labor commodity as labor commodity has unique use value, and the use value of labor commodity has special attributes in the use process.This understanding does not fully reveal the different characteristics of labor commodity and other commodities.In fact, in Capital, Marx studied the particularity of labor commodity from other angles.
Labor commodity valueThe value of labor commodities with special structure has a minimum or a minimum, while other commodities have no such limit."The minimum or the minimum of the value of labor force refers to the value of the commodity quantity that the labor force bearer cannot renew its life process if he cannot get it every day, that is, the value of the means of subsistence necessary for maintaining the body." Generally speaking, the price of labor force commodity should be higher than this minimum in most cases.
The value quantity of labor commodity has special composition. The value composition of labor commodity not only includes production andreproductionRequired by labor forceSocially necessary labor timeIt also contains a historical and moral factor."Because the climate and other natural characteristics of a country are different, the natural needs of food, clothing, heating, living, etc. are also different.On the other hand, the scope as an indispensable need, like the way to meet these needs, is itself a product of history, so it mostly depends on a country's cultural level, which mainly depends on the conditions under which the free working class was formed, so that he has those habits and life requirements ".[2]
The value of labor commodity has a special form of exchange. The exchange of ordinary commodities is bound to occurTransfer of ownershipThe exchange of labor and goods does not transfer ownership.The owner of the labor force must always sell the labor force for a certain period of time. If he sells all the labor force at once, "he will sell himself, from a free man to a slave, from a commodity owner to a commodity.","He must always let the buyer temporarily control his labor force for a certain period of time, and use his labor force, that is, he will not give up his ownership of his labor force when transferring it.".[3]
Whether the labor commodity can be exchanged smoothly has its special significance. "If the labor force is not sold, it will be useless to the workers. Not only that, the workers will feel a cruel natural inevitability: the production of his labor capacity once required a certain amount of means of subsistencereproductionAnd constantly need a certain amount of survival materials ".[4]If other commodities cannot be sold, they can be temporarily withdrawn from the circulation field. As commodity inventory, its value still exists.The labor force cannot be sold, and the workers are unemployed. Not only is its value equal to zero, but its owners will face a cruel survival oppression.
The Enlightenment of the Theory of the Particularity of Labor Commodity to Us
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staysocialist market economyUnder these conditions, labor is also a commodity, which is importantproduction factors, strengthen the research on labor commodity, scientifically manage and use laboreconomic efficiency It is of great significance.We believe that the following issues should be paid attention to in understanding the particularity of labor commodity.
Raise awareness of the importance of solving employment problems
Even under capitalist conditions, from the perspective of labor owners, unemployment is also a heavy disaster for workers.Although the labor force is sold out to achieve employment, the workers will suffercapitalistExploitation;But even so, employment is much better than unemployment, and it is also much better to be exploited than not to be exploited.Because they are not exploited or sold out, "workers will feel a cruel natural inevitability".From a social perspective, unemployment is a huge waste of resources. Unlike other commodities, human labor capacity is not only unsuitable for storage, but also may shrink and disappear if not used.People inLabor processHe must make the natural forces on his body move. "When he acts on the nature outside his body and changes the nature through this movement, he also changes its own nature at the same time. He makes the sleeping potential of his own nature come into play.".If a person is unemployed for a long time, his sleeping potential may shrink and disappear. There is no doubt that this is a huge waste.
China's solution to the employment problem is the same asdeveloped countryCompared with more difficulties, China has the largest population in the worldeconomic resources The number is lower than the world average, and the resources are relatively poor.In the process of economic development, we are faced with huge pressure from the transfer of rural labor force. No matter from any perspective, the significance and difficulties of achieving full employment are very huge.Therefore, we must adopt special countermeasures and methods suitable for China's national conditions to solve the employment problem of labor force.We believe that the country should take full employment as the main goal of the macro-economy. For a period of time, China's theoretical circles and government decision-making departments have a tendency to pay too much attention to the growth rate of GDP, as if only to maintain a highGDP growth rateCan solve all problems.We believe that this view is worth discussing. Admittedly, high economic growth rate is conducive to the realization of full employment, but high GDP growth rate is not a sufficient condition to solve the employment problem.If the economic sectors that can fully absorb labor force shrink in large numbers, the high economic growth rate will not only fail to increase employment, but also may make unemployment more serious.On the premise of maintaining rapid economic growth, the unemployment problem is becoming more and more obvious. Of course, there are many reasons, but one of the important reasons is that our economic growth is mainlycapital-using industryDriven by rapid development, this growth has limited capacity to absorb labor force.Of course, changeEconomic growth mode, improveeconomic efficiency It is very necessary, but we can't just emphasize efficiency and ignore employment. The correct idea should be to achieve the balance and unity of the two.In a sense, full employment and economic efficiency are not contradictory. Unemployment is a huge waste of resources and a huge loss of efficiency. Only efficiency based on full employment is the real efficiencyPareto optimal stateEfficiency.In order to achieve the unity of full employment and economic efficiency, we believe that the state should not only vigorously encourageHigh tech industryWe should also vigorously encourage those who can absorb a large number of labor forceslabour-intensiveIndustrial development.Even if the efficiency of an enterprise is not very high, as long as it can absorb a large number of labor, we should recognize its great contribution and existence value, and should give strong policy support and protection.
Increase investment in labor training, education and training
From the particularity of labor commodity, we can see that labor commodity has greatExternal effectsAnd extremely high cultivation efficiency.The use and consumption of labor force is a process of creating value. The value created by labor force in use is closely related to the training and training of labor force. The better the training and training of labor force, the greater the ability of labor force to create value.From the perspective of the composition of the value of the labor force itself, the value created by the labor force in the use process is not all owned by the owner of the labor forceCapitalist mode of productionUnder the condition ofsurplus valuecovercapitalistPossession constitutes the profit of capital. Under socialist conditions, the surplus value created by labor force is mostly formed, except that part of it is occupied by labor force employeesNational incomeBecomespublic wealth。From this point of view, the greater the value created by labor, the greater its contribution to society, and the labor commodity has a great positive effectExternal effects。Moreover, the training efficiency of labor force is also very high.After research, some foreign economists found that an extra $1 for labor training can increase output by $5-8. This rate of return is unmatched by any other investment.
China is a large developing country that has just solved the problem of food and clothing. The country is very poor, and there are many things to do. We must arrange our limited financial resources scientifically and reasonably. However, no matter how limited our financial resources are, they cannot be the reason to ignore the investment in labor training and education.With the high demand for the industrialization of educationHigher EducationneedIndustrializationAlmost no one raised an objection. Some people believe that the benefits of higher education belong to students, so the cost of higher education should also be borne by the educated.We believe that this view is one-sided.Higher education is to cultivate high-quality labor force. The higher the quality of labor force, the greater the value it creates and the greater its contribution to society,ExternalitiesThe stronger.From this perspective, the greatest beneficiaries of higher education are society rather than individuals.Moreover, if we let students bear the cost of higher education, it will inevitably make those with good potential lose the opportunity to receive higher education due to poverty, which will cause a great waste of potential human resources.We suggest that when the industrialization of education is easy to be misunderstood, it is better not to advocate this slogan. The country should adopt clear policies and measures to ensure the investment of education funds, and truly implement the slogan that no matter how poor you are, no matter how poor you are, no matter how hard you are, no matter how poor you are.
Strengthen legal protection of labor force
The value of labor commodity has a special form of exchange, and the relationship between labor commodity and its consumers is different from other ordinary commodities.Labor commodity does not occur in the process of saleTransfer of ownershipThe owner of a commodity sells only his own labor capacity, not his own.The relationship between labor commodity owners and consumers is just a contractual relationship, and their personality should be equal. Labor users' management of workers must comply with legal provisions and general moral principles.Although the labor forceExchange processIt is voluntary, but in fact, the status of labor sellers and labor buyers is unequal. Because labor sellers have no choice but to sell their own labor, they are in a weak position compared with buyers, which requires the state to strengthen the legal protection of labor owners,We will ensure that their legitimate rights and interests are not violated.It seems that all countries in the world are increasingly paying attention to the legal protection of labor forceSocialist countryThere is no reason not to attach importance to this issue.
