The Capitalist Space Economy: Geographical Analysis After Ricardo, Marx and Sraffa

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Original Title Page
Original Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of tables
List of figures
Preface and acknowledgements
1 Introduction
Introduction
1.1 From political economy to neoclassicism and back
1.2 analytical political economy: three views
1.2.1 Neo-Ricardianism
1.2.2 Fundamental Marxists
1.2.3 Analytical Marxism
1.3 Questions of method
1.4 Outline of the book
Note
PART I THE BASICS
2 The capital controversies
Introduction
2.1 The reswitching debate
2.1.1 The aggregate neoclassical model of production
2.1.2 The impossibility of measuring capital
2.1.3 Denying the neoclassical parables: Reswitching
2.1.4 Politics and the distribution of income
2.2 Implications for economic geography
Summary
Note
3 The value controversies
Introduction
3.1 Commodities and their value
3.2 Embodied labour values
3.3 The labour theory of value
3.3.1 Social necessity
3.3.2 Empirical measurement
3.3.3 Marxian exploitation
3.4 Further concepts
3.5 Labour values vis-à-vis exchange values
3.5.1 Prices of production
3.5.2 The transformation problem
3.5.3 Controversies over the transformation problem
3.6 Does joint production imply negative labour values?
3.7 Qualitative arguments for a labour theory of value
3.8 Geographical implications: Defining regions
Note
PART II THE PROFIT-MAXIMIZING SPACE ECONOMY
4 Production prices in a competitive space economy
Introduction
4.1 The price circuit
4.1.1 Spatial prices and trading patterns
4.1.2 Wage–profit frontiers
4.1.3 The location of industry
4.1.4 Circulation and exchange
4.1.5 The inter-regional trade balance
4.2 Incorporating production and circulation time
4.2.1 Capital advanced in production
4.2.2 Circulation time
4.2.3 Implications for the geography of commodity production
Summary
Notes
Appendix: Existence of trading and pricing equilibrium, and potentials
5 Reswitching in a space economy
Introduction
5.1 An example of reswitching
5.1.1 Background
5.1.2 A two-region economy
5.1.3 A single open region within a space economy
5.2 Intra-regional location and reswitching
5.2.1 Fixed transportation costs
5.2.2 Endogenous transportation costs
5.3 Inconsistencies in neoclassical economic geography
Summary
Notes
6 Incorporating natural resources: rent theory
Introduction
6.1 Nature and scarcity
6.2 Rent and scarcity within political economic theory: two views
6.2.1 Marxist rent theory
6.2.2 Neo-Ricardian rent theory
6.2.3 Towards a reconciliation
6.2.4 Summary
6.3 Transport costs, multi-commodity production and differential rent
6.3.1 Extensive differential rent
6.3.2 Intensive differential, rent
6.4 Differential rent and non-land resource sites
6.5 Absolute/monopoly rent
6.5.1 Absolute rent
6.5.2 Monopoly rent 1
6.5.3 Monopoly rent 2
Summary
Notes
7 The city: incorporating the built environment
Introduction
7.1 The theoretical context
7.2 The intra-urban location of the basic sector and rent
7.2.1 Optimal production sector location excluding land rents
7.2.2 Optimal location of plants with land rents
7.3 Rent and the built environment as fixed capital
7.4 Residential location
7.4.1 The Garin-Lowry model
7.4.2 Population
7.4.3 The retail sector
7.4.4 The housing sector
7.4.5 Wages, rationality and class conflict: Some reconsiderations
Summary
Note
Appendix: A matrix version of the Garin–Lowry model
8 The labour value circuit
Introduction
8.1 The geography of labour value and exploitation
8.1.1 Labour values
8.1.2 Exploitation
8.1.3 Implications for class alliances
8.1.4 Circulation of labour value
8.2 Unequal exchange and regional development
8.2.1 A two-region economy
8.2.2 A multi-regional economy
8.2.3 Empirical studies
Summary
9 The quantity circuit and capital accumulation
Introduction
9.1 The geography of production under dynamic equilibrium
9.1.1 The rate of capital accumulation
9.2 Incorporating workers’ savings and capitalists’ luxuries
9.2.1 The consumption–growth frontier
9.3 The instability of dynamic equilibrium
9.3.1 Responses to instability
Summary
Appendix: Characteristics of the dynamic equilibrium
PART III DISEQUILIBRIUM: CLASS CONTRADICTION AND STRUGGLE
10 Class and space
Introduction
10.1 Class-in-itself and class-for-itself
10.2 Class-in-itself
10.2.1 Definitions of class
10.2.2 Class structure
10.2.3 Class interests
10.3 Class-for-itself
10.3.1 Class formation and consciousness
10.3.2 Class struggle
Summary
Note
11 Location and inter-class conflict
Introduction
11.1 Workers vs capitalists
11.1.1 Geographical conflicts over income and consumption levels
11.1.2 Power relationships: domination at the workplace
11.1.3 Property relationships: communally owned means of production
11.2 Workers vs landlords
11.2.1 Conflict over rent levels
11.2.2 Power and property relationships: community organizations
11.2.3 Property ownership: the housing class debate
11.3 Capitalists vs landlords
11.3.1 Conflicts over rent
11.3.2 Power relationships: conflict over land tenure
11.3.3 Conflict over land ownership: capitalists, landlords and fictitious capital
Summary
12 Location and intra-class conflict
Introduction
12.1 Unintended consequences and intra-class conflict
12.2 Intra-class conflict among capitalists
12.2.1 The relocation decision
12.2.2 The decision to introduce technical change
12.2.3 The decision to specialize and trade
12.3 Intra-class conflict among workers
12.3.1 Direct conflict: working-class segmentation
12.3.2 Indirect conflict: responses by capitalists
12.4 Intra-class conflict among landowners
12.4.1 Conflict over differential rent
12.4.2 Conflict over monopoly rent 2
Summary
Note
PART IV DISEQUILIBRIUM: TECHNICAL CHANGE AND ORGANIZATION
13 Strategies for reducing production costs
Introduction
13.1 Cost reduction strategies
13.1.1 Types of technical change
13.1.2 The rate and direction of technical change
13.1.3 Location and the direction of technical change
13.1.4 Impact of technical change
13.1.5 Relocation and wage contracts
13.1.6 The case of resources
13.2 Fixed costs
13.3 Reducing circulation time
Summary
Notes
14 Strategies for organizational restructuring
Introduction
14.1 Oligopoly and the rate of profit
14.1.1 The debate over profit rate differentials
14.1.2 Incorporating profit rate differentials
14.1.3 Inter-regional profit rate differentials
14.1.4 The accumulation of investment funds
14.2 The organization of production
14.3 Investment strategies
Summary
Note
15 Conclusions
15.1 Summary of the argument
15.2 Extensions
15.3 Reflections
Glossary
Bibliography
Name Index
Subject Index