Rotta, Tomas. 2018. Unproductive accumulation in the USA: a new analytical framework. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 42(5), pp. 1367-1392. ISSN 0309-166X [Article]

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Abstract or Description

In this paper I offer an innovative analysis of unproductive accumulation in the United States economy from 1947 to 2011. I develop a new theoretical and empirical framework to analyze the accumulation of capital in its productive and unproductive forms. I also develop a methodology to compute Marxist categories predicated on the idea that the production of knowledge and information is an unproductive activity that relies on the creation of knowledge-rents. In particular, I provide new empirical estimates to uncover the shifting balance between productive and unproductive forms of accumulation. The accumulation pattern observed during the 1947-1979 phase that prioritized productive accumulation gave way after the 1980s to a contrasting pattern prioritizing unproductive accumulation. Unproductive activity has been growing at a fast pace in terms of incomes, fixed assets, and employment. Among all forms of unproductive activity, my approach places special attention on how the production of knowledge and information has constituted a rising share of total unproductive income and capital stock. Additionally, productive stagnation and rapid unproductive accumulation have been related to greater exploitation of productive workers and to widening income inequality.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bex080
Additional Information:	JEL: B51 - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian E01 - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts O34 - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
Keywords:	Unproductive Activity, Capital Accumulation, Exploitation, Inequality, Stagnation
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Institute of Management Studies Institute of Management Studies > Structural Economic Analysis
Dates:	Date Event September 2018 Published 16 January 2018 Published Online 1 August 2017 Accepted
Item ID:	26867
Date Deposited:	10 Sep 2019 12:00
Last Modified:	19 Feb 2024 16:26
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/26867

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