Skilled Labour and the Reduction Problem

Abstract

Empirical estimates derived in line with the Marxist framework are essential to fully address several topics, from the dynamics of profit and exploitation rates to unequal exchange, crisis and strategies. Edward Ochoa presented and implemented a pioneering practical proposal to perform such strand of calculations from widely available input–output data. That leveraged method has become widespread in empirical studies. This article focuses on a controversial aspect of such a proposal: the reduction of skilled or complex to simple unskilled labour. After a critical dialogue from a theoretical point of view, this article provides estimate comparisons based on available data for the period 1995 to 2009, discusses alternative proposals and stresses their virtues and caveats, pointing to the strength of methods that don’t fully rely on wage indexes and to future paths of research needed.