Monopoly Capital and Capitalist Inefficiency

Thomas Lambert and Ed Kwon

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper examines the arguments and assertions of Baran’s and Sweezy’s Monopoly Capital: An Essay on the American Economic and Social Order (1966) by assessing the degree of economic efficiency or inefficiency in how surplus value and economic surplus were created by 16 major capitalist economies during the 2000s using data envelopment analysis (DEA). After assigning a score to the degree of economic efficiency/inefficiency for each country, one can then assess which factors influence the degree of efficiency/inefficiency. This paper finds empirical support for many of the arguments put forth by the authors, Baran and Sweezy, as well as others regarding the inefficiency of the use of some forms of economic activity to help absorb economic surplus and to create surplus value.

Keywords: data envelopment analysis; Marxian economics; neoclassical economics; over production; over investment; stagnation thesis; surplus value; under consumption; x-inefficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B24 B51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-09-22
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-hme, nep-hpe and nep-pke
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:69570

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