munkaértékelmélet

Munkaértékelmélet is a term that translates to "labor theory of value" in English. This economic theory, primarily associated with classical economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo, and later developed by Karl Marx, posits that the economic value of a good or service is determined by the total amount of socially necessary labor required to produce it. This labor can be direct, such as the work of a carpenter building a table, or indirect, encompassing the labor embodied in the tools and raw materials used in production.

The theory suggests that the price of a commodity in a free market would tend to reflect the labor invested in its creation. Differences in the skill and intensity of labor are also factored into this calculation. For instance, a highly skilled craftsperson's labor would be considered more valuable than unskilled labor.

Karl Marx significantly expanded upon the labor theory of value in his critique of capitalism. He argued that the capitalist system allows for the extraction of "surplus value," which is the difference between the value workers create and the wages they receive. This surplus value, according to Marx, is the source of profit for capitalists. While influential, the labor theory of value has been challenged and largely superseded by subjective theories of value in mainstream economics, which emphasize consumer preferences and marginal utility in determining value. However, it remains an important concept in understanding historical economic thought and certain critical economic perspectives.