ABSTRACT
Okishio assumes a constant real wage. Given this assumption, he demonstrates that there is not a tendency for the rate of profit to fall as a consequence of technical change, thus Marxists should look elsewhere for a theory of the falling rate of profit. The candidate Okishio proposes is the conflict between capital and labour: ‘Thus the movement of the rate of profit is determined by the struggle between conflicting classes’ (1961, p.96). One reason to assume a constant real wage is to separate out possible changes in the rate of profit stemming from the class struggle between the working and capitalist class from changes in the rate of profit resulting from technical change. However, if technical change raises the productivity of labour while the real wage is constant, it follows, ceteris paribus, that the capitalist class is capturing a larger share of the product. It would appear, in this sense, that the notion of class struggle neutrality adopted by Okishio should be set against other notions which might be adopted.
