Surplus Product - Measurement of The Surplus Product

Measurement of The Surplus Product

The magnitude of the surplus product can be estimated in stocks of physical use-values, in money prices, or in labour hours.

If it is known:

• what and how much was produced in a year,
• what the population structure is,
• what incomes or earnings were received,
• how many hours were worked in different occupations,
• what the normal actual consumption pattern is,
• what the producers pay in terms of taxes or tribute

then measures of the necessary product and surplus product can in principle be estimated.

However it is never possible to obtain mathematically exact or fully objective distinctions between necessary and surplus product, because social needs and investment requirements are always subject to moral debate and political contests between social classes. At best, some statistical indicators can be developed. In Das Kapital, Marx himself was less concerned with measurement issues than with the social relations involved in the production and distribution of the surplus product.

Essentially the techniques for estimating the size of the surplus product in a capitalist economy are similar to those for measuring surplus-value. However, some components of the surplus product may not be marketed products or services. The existence of markets always presupposes a lot of non-market labour as well. A physical surplus product is not the same as surplus value, and the magnitudes of surplus product, surplus labour and surplus value may diverge.