Capital turnover

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In economic theory, capital turnover (also called “turnover” for short) is understood to mean the entire process from capital investment to the return to the entrepreneur in monetary form of the applied capital increased by the surplus value . A distinction must be made here

  1. the (shorter) turnover of the capital components (which is often also called "capital turnover"), then he calculates from the investment of the circulating capital at the beginning of the production period to the return in monetary form to the entrepreneur at the end of the "sales period" ] and
  2. the (longer) turnover of the total capital, then he calculates from the investment of the total capital until the end of the depreciation period.

The turnover of the capital components

It is much shorter than the turnover of the total capital. Its actual length basically depends (in addition to the special features of the individual capital) on the type of goods being produced:

  • a discrete commodity [= countable quantity] or
  • a continuous commodity [= measurable mass],

and in the first case according to which amount is produced within which time. In mechanical engineering, the production of a machine takes longer than in incandescent lamp production for the production of an incandescent lamp, which of course requires different turnover times for both. In any case, however, the turnover of the capital components consists of:

  • the production time, which itself can consist of
    1. the working time [= the immediate work process] and
    2. the maturation period [= a technical interruption of the process], as well as
  • the circulation time, which consists of itself again
    1. the unit of time called “sales time” by Marx, which in turn consists of:
    • the cycle time of the goods [= storage and transport] and
    • the value circulation time of the exchange values [= payment deadlines, transfer times],
    2. the unit of time called “purchase time” by Marx at the beginning of a new turnover of the capital components, at which the entrepreneur has to order new raw materials and auxiliary materials, which also have to be delivered before production can be continued. In his "Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy", however, he assigned the purchase time to production, not to circulation:
    “Firstly, it is clear that the exchange of activities and skills that takes place in production itself belongs directly to it and makes it essential. Second, the same applies to the exchange of products, insofar as it is a means of producing the finished product intended for immediate consumption . So far, the exchange itself is an integral part of production. "

Regarding maturity, see Karl Marx "Das Kapital" Volume II (MEW 24), page 188 (text edited):

"Other differences in the turnover of circulating capital arise as soon as individual elements of the same have to remain in a preliminary stage of the production process (drying out of wood, etc.) longer than others."

The same of course also applies if it is a stage within the production process, see Karl Marx "Das Kapital" Volume II (MEW 24), page 125 (text edited and inserts in angle brackets):

“But the production process itself can result in interruptions in the work process and therefore in working hours, spaces in which the object of work is exposed to the action of physical, < chemical or biological > processes without the addition of human labor. The production process - therefore < and > the function of the means of production - continues in this case, although the work process - and thus the function of the means of production as a tool - is broken. So z. B. with the grain that is sown, with the wine that ferments in the cellar, < with > the working materials of many manufactories - such as tanneries - that are exposed to chemical processes. The production time here is greater than the working time. The difference between the two is an excess of production time over working time. This excess is always based on
  • that productive capital is latent in the production area without functioning in the production process itself,
  • or that it functions in the production process without being in the work process. "

The turnover of the capital components can therefore be shortened by:

  1. the reduction of the working time required for the production of goods (through technical changes in the production process),
  2. the shortening of the ripening time (through technical changes or procedural changes in the production process),
  3. the shortening of the sales time [= circulation time of the goods and / or the value circulation time] (through shorter storage times, shorter transport routes and / or faster means of transport, shorter payment deadlines and / or transfer times),
  4. the shortening of the purchase time (through shorter delivery times).

The turnover of the total capital

The turnover of the total capital is much longer than that of the capital components and consists of:

  • the turnover time of the fixed constant capital, consisting of the one-time turnover during the depreciation period and
  • the number of turns of the capital components during the depreciation period (it results from the depreciation period divided by the turnover time of the capital components).

On this basis, the total profit and the total profit rate of total capital can be calculated.

The turnover of the total capital can be shortened by:

  1. the reduction of the turnover time of the capital components (see above) or
  2. the expansion of production by extending the working hours of workers (through overtime or shift work).
    • If the turnover time of the capital components is shortened, more is produced in the same time, so that in the same time more value of the land, buildings and machinery (i.e. the fixed constant capital) is transferred to the commodity, this value is therefore " amortized " faster , the total capital is therefore “written off” faster, that is to say: turned over.
    • If working hours are extended, the same thing happens, with the difference between overtime and the introduction of shift work only regulating the extent to which the turnover of total capital is reduced.

At the end of the turnover of total capital, the simple or expanded reproduction of capital takes place.

Effects

  1. The turnover of the capital components has an impact on the amount of profit ,
  2. the turnover of total capital influences the speed of accumulation .

If one of two capitals of the same size and composition changes its capital components twice as quickly,

  • it makes double the profit in the same time,
  • it halves the depreciation period of the fixed constant capital,
  • thus the turnover time of the total capital and
  • can accumulate capital in half the time of the other (see types of competition ).

For the workers in the production area this results

  1. from the shortening of the turnover of the capital components a higher labor intensity ,
  2. an extension of working hours through overtime and / or shift work based on the entrepreneur's interest in reducing the turnover of the total capital.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karl Marx: "Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy" (MEW 13), page 630.

literature

  • Karl Marx: Capital. Volume II (MEW 24) and III (MEW 25).