Ricardo’s Theory of Value and International Trade:
On the Invalidity of the Alleged ‘Labour Theory of Value’.
2018 年 60 巻 1 号 p. 79-99
詳細
2018 年 60 巻 1 号 p. 79-99
Abstract: This paper presents a new interpretation of Ricardo’s international trade theory. It shows that Ricardo’s value theory in his Principles can be understood exclusively as the cost-of-production theory of value, which integrates the domestic value theory and international value theory, requisitely taking into consideration changes in the value of money when it is applied to the analysis of international exchange. In Section II, we critically re-examine the standard interpretation of Ricardo’s trade theory in the so-called ‘Ricardian Model’ in textbooks today. Based on the concepts of ‘comparative advantage’ and ‘gains from trade’ within the two-country two-commodity framework, we show that it is a distorted interpretation, which originated from J. S. Mill’s arguments and established through the debate between Viner and Haberler, in the opposite direction of Ricardo’s original value theory. In Section III, we present that Ricardo consistently adopted the cost-of-production theory of value, which is valid not only for domestic, but also international, exchange based on the concept of natural price, with the so-called ‘labour theory of value’ being merely a subset rule in the analysis of domestic exchange. We then show that Ricardo’s original value theory inevitably takes into consideration the differences and adjustments in the value of money in international exchange, in the analysis of international exchange. Finally, we will briefly review that Ricardo was heading in the right direction towards today’s theory of international trade including intermediate goods. JEL classification numbers: B 12, B 17.
