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In Marxian economics, economic reproduction refers to recurrent (or cyclical) processes〔In a recurrent process, ''the same'' event repeats itself on multiple occasions. In a cyclical process, a ''sequence of events'' repeats itself on a regular basis.〕 Aglietta views economic reproduction as the initial conditions necessary for economic activity to occur are constantly re-created.〔Michel Aglietta, introduction to Aglietta, ''A theory of capitalist regulation''. London: NLB, 1979.〕 Marx viewed reproduction as the means by which society re-created itself, both materially and socially. The recreation of the conditions necessary for economic activity to take place was a key part of that. A capitalist would need to reproduce a certain social hierarchy of workers who owned nothing but their labor power and of others who controlled the capital necessary to make production start. Thus, the process of reproduction would need to recreate workers as workers, and capitalists as capitalists. Economic reproduction involves the physical ''production'' and ''distribution'' of goods and services, the ''trade'' (the circulation via exchanges and transactions) of goods and services, and the ''consumption'' of goods and services (both productive or intermediate consumption and final consumption). Karl Marx developed the original insights of Quesnay to model the circulation of capital, money, and commodities in the second volume of ''Das Kapital'' to show how the reproduction process that must occur in any type of society can take place in capitalist society by means of the circulation of capital.〔Karl Marx, ''Capital, Volume II''. Penguin Classics, 1992.〕 Marx distinguishes between "simple reproduction" and "expanded (or enlarged) reproduction".〔Karl Marx, ''Capital, Volume I''. Penguin Classics, 1990, chapter 23 and Capital, Volume II''. Penguin Classics, 1992, chapter 20 and 21.〕 In the former case, no economic growth occurs, while in the latter case, more is produced than is needed to maintain the economy at the given level, making economic growth possible. In the capitalist mode of production, the difference is that in the former case, the new surplus value created by wage-labour is spent by the employer on consumption (or hoarded), whereas in the latter case, part of it is reinvested in production. Ernest Mandel additionally refers in his two-volume ''Marxist Economic Theory'' to ''contracted reproduction'', meaning production on a smaller and smaller scale, in which case business operating at a loss outnumbers growing business (e.g., in wars, depressions, or disasters).〔Ernest Mandel, ''Marxist Economic Theory'', Volume 1. London: Merlin, 1968, chapter 10: "Reproduction and growth of the national income", p. 331. See also Joseph Tainter et al., ''The Collapse of Complex Societies''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.〕 Reproduction in this case continues to occur, but investment, employment, and output fall absolutely, so that the national income falls. In the Great Depression of the 1930s, for example, about one-quarter of the workers became unemployed; as a result of the 2008–9 slump, the unemployed labour force increased by about 30 million workers (a number approximately equal to the total workforce of France, or Britain).〔According to the International Labor Organization.〕 ==Theoretical approach== As an approach to studying economic activity, economic reproduction contrasts with equilibrium economics, because economic reproduction is concerned not with statics or with how economic development gravitates towards an equilibrium, but rather with ''dynamics''—that is, the motion of an economy. It is not concerned with the conditions of a perfect match between supply and demand under ideal conditions but rather with the quantitative proportions between different economic activities or sectors that are necessary in any real economy so that economic activity can continue and grow. It is concerned with ''all'' the conditions for that, including the social and technical conditions necessary for the economic process. Reproduction economics does not assume that society is kept in balance by market mechanisms. Wassily Leontief developed Marx's idea further in his input-output economics (see also input-output model).〔W. Leontief, “Quantitative Input and Output Relations in the Economic System of the United States”. In: ''Review of Economics and Statistics'' Vol. 18, 1936, pp. 105-125; “Interrelation of Prices, Output, Savings and Investment”. In: ''Review of Economics and Statistics'', Vol. 18, 1937, pp. 109-132 respectively; "The significance of Marxian economics for present-day economic theory". ''The American Economic Review'', Vol. 28, No. 1, March 1938.〕 However, there is a major difference between Leontief and Marx. By treating gross profit as a "factor input" as well as a factor output, the respective total values of the input and output in Leontief's model are always exactly equal. In Marx's model, the output in an accounting period is normally always higher in value than the input. This is what Marx believed capitalists to be in business for: to produce a product sold at a higher value than the sum of input costs, thus generating profit. The profit in Marx's theory is not an "input" (it is not part of the capital advanced), but a business result, the yield of capital on an investment. In Marx's view, economic reproduction in any society has five main features: *the production of reproducible products (goods or services) replacing, maintaining, or adding to the stock of society's physical assets *the physical maintenance of the (working) population and their dependents through household consumption〔For more detail, William James Booth, ''Households: on the moral architecture of the economy''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003.〕 *the reproduction and growth of the total population, including procreation and childrearing〔For more detail, see Bonnie Fox, ''Hidden in the Household: Women's Domestic Labour Under Capitalism''. Women's Press, 1980.〕 *the reproduction, enforcement, and maintenance of social relations, in particular the relations of production that characterize the social hierarchy, and property rights〔Karl Marx, ''Capital, Volume I''. Penguin Classics, 1990, chapter 23.〕 *the maintenance and reproduction of trading and distribution relations (the systems, institutions, and organizations enabling market trade and non-market allocation of resources) What is specific to capitalist society is that these reproduction processes are accomplished primarily via the intermediary of ''commercial trade''; that is, they are mediated by the market. Reproduction on a larger and larger scale becomes ''conditional'' on successfully making money. It means that these processes tend to be increasingly reorganized to bring them in line with the requirements of the accumulation of capital. Marx's argument is that by producing an output value the equivalent to their own labor cost plus a surplus value (or gross profit) appropriated by capitalists, waged workers accomplish many of the processes involved at the same time. Part of the role of the state is to secure those general (collective) conditions for the reproduction and maintenance of society that individuals and private enterprise cannot secure by themselves for one reason or another (e.g., because they transcend competing interests, because they are too costly for private agencies, because it is technically not possible to privatize them, or because they are not sufficiently profitable or too risky).〔Bob Jessop, ''The Capitalist State: Marxist Theories and Methods''. Oxford: Blackwell, 1982; Jessop, ''State Theory: Putting the Capitalist State in Its Place''. Cambridge: Polity, 1990; Jessop, ''The Future of the Capitalist State''. Cambridge: Polity 2002.〕 Ecologists would nowadays probably add as a "reproduction condition" good stewardship for the physical environment.〔Harry Rothman, ''Murderous providence; a study of pollution in industrial societies''. London: R. Hart-Davis, 1972.〕 Sustainable development cannot occur if the natural environment is constantly depleted without being restored. The recycling of wastes and waste materials can be considered as a necessary and integral part of society's reproduction process. Each of these six features is the subject of much political controversy in society. Many different opinions exist about their relative importance and their effects on each other. Economists and businesspeople are often primarily concerned with the economic effects, but other intellectuals and workers are often more concerned with the non-economic effects for the health, security, and well-being of citizens. Thus, governments usually have both economic policies and social policies, population policies, environmental policies, and so on. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Reproduction (economics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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