Description
Book SynopsisThe amount of physical matter in the world is fixed and improvements to people's material circumstances are only created by their ability to reconfigure this matter. What distinguishes labour, and subsequently what allows for differing increments of value, are our capabilities, skills and understandings. In addition, the way society synchronises these individual talents and pieces of knowledge is significant.
This innovative book sheds new light on the emerging confluence between labour and industrial economics: the view that labour as capital is the dominant factor of production. This factor is commonly embraced under the term intangible capital.
This book examines the process by which firms accumulate intangible capital assets using a post-Keynesian perspective. It will be of interest to labour and industrial economists, especially those who favour post-Keynesian and Kaleckian economic thought.
Trade Review'I had the privilege and pleasure of supervising the Ph.D. dissertation from which the present book originated. Its author, Beth Webster, was independent, critical in a positive way and original. She acquired a most thorough knowledge and mastery of the relevant literature. She recognized early on the growing importance, both qualitatively and quantitatively, of investment in intangible assets in modern economic processes. She set about developing an appropriate framework, drawing on Kalecki's insights in particular, within which to analyse the issues involved. The outcome is the present book - which is original, relevant, comprehensive and a pleasure to read.' -- G.C. Harcourt, University of New South Wales, Australia
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction 2. Historic Conception of Investment and Capital 3. Contemporary Conception of Investment 4. Uncertainty and Risk 5. Competition 6. Empirical Evidence 7. The Firm’s Investment Decision 8. Integration into Macrodynamics 9. Concluding Remarks References Index
