ABSTRACT
The distinction between labor and labor power is a basic concept in Marxian economics and one of the central points developed by Marx in volume one of Capital. It is an especially fruitful theoretical insight that has profound implications for understanding the origin of surplus value, absolute and relative surplus value, relations 50between capital and labor, the labor process, the evolution of production technology, the role of management and supervision in the capitalist enterprises, and macroeconomic dynamics. Early in volume one of Capital Marx distinguishes between the capacity or potential to labor and the actual amount of labor performed, and introduces the term “labor power” to distinguish the former from the latter (1967a, 167, 171). The distinction is clear: labor power is the capacity or potential to produce, labor is actual production. The relation between the two is described as “labor-power in use is labor itself” (177). The difference between labor and labor power arises because worker effort is variable and they may work at a pace or intensity below their capacity.
