1st Edition
An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption A Transhistorical Framework
An Economic Philosophy of Production, Work and Consumption presents a new transhistorical framework of defining production, work and consumption. It shows that they all share the common feature of intentional physical transformation of something external to the agent, at some point in time.
The book opens with a discussion of various theoretical traditions within economics, spanning mainstream and heterodox perspectives, and problems with production definitions in use today. Next, the author outlines various definitions in a more formal manner and provides a discussion on measurement and the production boundary. Unproductive work is redefined as socially reproductive, i.e. such that would not be performed on a Robinson Crusoe Island. Finally, the volume applies the new conceptual framework to various historical cases and discusses the future of production, work and consumption.
This essential volume will be of interest to scholars of economic philosophy and methodology, the history of economic thought, economic history and national accounting.
The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Production, work and consumption in the history of economic thought
Chapter 3: National Accounts
Chapter 4: Formalising the definitions of production, work and consumption
Chapter 5: Possible applications of the framework
Chapter 6: The contribution of this book
Biography
Rodney Edvinsson is Professor of Economic History at Stockholm University, Sweden.
