On Wed, 25 Apr 2001, you wrote: > > Paul C wrote in [5381]: > > > A reduced turnover time is equivalent to having > > a smaller stock of work in progress - the aim > > of just in time manufacturing is to reduce this > > stock. The effect is to lower the organic > > composition of capital. > > I agree that a smaller quantity of 'work in > progress' caused by JITM will lead to a > reduction in the organic composition of capital. > In this case, firms can purchase smaller > manufacturing facilities and spend less on > storage costs (including fuel and electricity) > of parts. This represents a decrease in c. It > can _also_ represent a reduction in v, however, > to the extent that less labor is required now > for storage which causes total labor > requirements to be diminished. > > However,*if* a reduction in the turnover time > means that unsold inventory is reduced, and > thereby there is a reduction in circulation time, > does this also represent a decrease in c? The question is how do you count the stock of work in progress. Consider a ship being built. It may take two years to build the ship. After it has been launched it still has to be fitted out. Suppose that there are two companies one owns the slipway the other the fitting out bay. The ship is launched by company one and fitted out by company two. You would presumably agree that the hull produced in one year by company one constitutes constant capital to company two and would thus influence the organic composition of capital. Now suppose that company one takes over company two, so that the fitting out is carried out by the same firm as launches the ship. They build a second ship, and move it to their own fitting out bay for another year's work. This hull too should be counted as constant capital. The fact that it was produced by another division of the same firm does not alter things. I am generalising from this to treat the value of all work in progress as part of the constant capital stock. > > Perhaps I have misunderstood your point: > do you consider unsold output to be part of > c? Yes > > In solidarity, Jerry > > > [PS to Rakesh on signifying 'thingifying': > there is a time for all things. Neither Marx nor > Cottrell viewed time as a 'thing'. Time is not a > 'thing'. It is a dimension, along with space, in > which things exist.] -- Paul Cockshott, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland 0141 330 3125 mobile:07946 476966 paul@cockshott.com http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/people/personal/wpc/ http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~wpc/reports/index.html
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