Marx's equalised rate of exploitation

Abstract

Marx assumes a uniform rate of exploitation throughout Capital, yet the theoretical basis for this assumption and its role in his theory of value are not widely recognised in the existing literature. This article shows that Marx assumed a tendentially equalised rate of exploitation to be the outcome of labour mobility and that he viewed this as a general tendency of capitalist economies. Marx draws extensively on Adam Smith to support his views on labour mobility and the equalised rate of exploitation. The close connection between Smith and Marx on notions of labour mobility is examined here. Understanding the role of labour mobility and the equalised rate of exploitation in Marx's work holds implications for contemporary approaches to classical-Marxian price and value theory and supports the view that Marx's theory of value is, in the most general sense, a theory of the allocation of social labour. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.