The method applied to this data was inspired by Freeman (1998) and Kliman (2007, 25–26) and included the following steps:
• The following data were obtained from OECD STAN and taken to represent as suggested by Shaikh and Tonak (1994) the following Marxian variables:
INTI = intermediate inputs: corresponds to constant capital c,
LABR = compensation of employees: corresponds to variable capital v,
NOS = net operating surplus: corresponds to profit p,
HRSE = hours worked by employees h
• All data were available in aggregated form at the level of industries as defined by ISIC Revision 4.
• Not all labour is productive. Therefore, there are industries that add no value to the economy in a Marxian framework. They are either unproductive or consume value. This question is contested in Marxist value theory and the empirical results one obtains depend on the theoretical choices one makes. I am in favour of a relatively broad concept of productive labour (Fuchs 2014a, 2014b, 2015), but assume that the financial and insurance industry as well as real estate do not create value. Data for these industries are however included in STAN (categories D64–D66 Financial and insurance activities, D68 Real estate activities). I therefore transformed the obtained data in such a way that I excluded data for these categories and recalculated the totals for all variables. Finance produces interest and real estate creates rent. Interest and rent are paid for by wages and profits, they consume and do not create surplus and value.
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Themes