Recent Developments in the Labor Theory of Value

Abstract

This paper reviews the historical roots of Marx's labor theory of value and some contemporary contributions to the critique of this theory. Modern commentary on Marx's labor theory of value based on dual system of parallel prices and embodied labor coefficients loses sight of the theory's roots in the philosophy of historical materialism and its function as a theory of money. Recently developed empirical single system approaches, including the New Interpretation that identifies the monetary expression of labor time with the ratio of money value added to living productive labor expended in its production, address these problems, and open the possibility of a progressive research program based on Marx's theory.