Beyond regulation and redistribution: the state as a productive economic actor

Engelbert Stockhammer and José Tomás Labarca

No PKWP2521, Working Papers from Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES)

Abstract: Political economists highlight power relations in the economy and the coconstitution of state and economy, but often implicitly retain the conception of the state as a site of political practices and power struggles rather than as an economic actor and site of production. This paper contributes to a political economy framework that recognizes that political and economic practices take place in the market economy, the household, and the state. We categorize the dimensions of wide-ranging state economic practices. Defining productive activities as those that impact the volume of social production, we argue that some state activities are productive and highlight those providing social and physical infrastructures that are inputs in production processes. The state is not only an important economic player; it is also productive.

Keywords: political economy; economic sociology; state; production; social infrastructure; physical infrastructure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B50 H00 H11 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39
Date: 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme, nep-pke and nep-reg
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