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• Editor's Preface
• Author's Preface
• Book I: The Elementary Theory of Value
• Chapter I: The Origin of Value
• Chapter II: The Value of Satisfactions of Want
• Chapter III: Gossen's Law of the Satiation of Want
• Chapter IV: The Scales of Satiation
• Chapter V: Marginal Utility
• Chapter VI: The Value of Future Satisfactions of Want
• Chapter VII: The Value of Goods
• Chapter VIII: The Valuation of a Single Commodity
• Chapter IX: The Valuation of Goods In Stocks. the Law of Marginal Utility the General Law of Value
• Chapter X: The Paradox of Value
• Chapter XI: The Antinomy of Value and the Service of Value
• Book II: Exchange Value and Natural Value
• Chapter I: Price
• Chapter II: Exchange Value In the Subjective Sense
• Chapter III: Exchange Value In the Objective Sense
• Chapter IV: The Antinomy of Exchange Value
• Chapter V: The Service of Exchange Value In General Economy
• Chapter VI: Natural Value
• Chapter VII: The Socialist Theory of Value
• Book III: The Natural Imputation of the Return From Production
• Part I: The General Principles of Imputation
• Chapter I: Return Value
• Chapter II: The Problem of Imputation
• Chapter III: The Socialist Reading of the Problem. the Claim of the Labourer to the Entire Return
• Chapter IV: Previous Attempts At Solution
• Chapter V: The Principle of Solution. the Productive Contribution
• Chapter VI: The Principle of Solution (continued) . Contribution and Co-operation
• Chapter VII: The Principle of Solution (continued) . the Economic Service of Imputation
• Chapter VIII: The Principle of Solution (continued) . Imputation and the Marginal Law
• Chapter IX: The Individual Factors of Imputation. I.—SUPPLY
• Chapter X: The Individual Factors of Imputation ( Continued ). II. — Demand and Complementary Goods
• Chapter XI: The Individual Factors of Imputation ( Continued ). III. — Technique
• Chapter XII: The Individual Factors of Imputation ( Continued ). IV. — the Imputation to Cost Goods and to Monopoly Goods
• Chapter XIII: The Individual Factors of Imputation ( Continued ). V. — the Imputation to Productive Factors of Preferable Quality
• Part II: Natural Land Rent
• Chapter XIV: Ricardo's Differential Rent: the First Part
• Chapter XV: Ricardo's Differential Rent: the Second Part
• Chapter XVI: Criticism of Ricardo's Theory
• Part III: The Natural Return to Capital
• Chapter XVII: The Productivity of Capital
• Chapter XVIII: The Calculation of Return to Capital In Primitiive and In Developed Economies
• Chapter XIX: The Imputation of Gross Return and of Net Return
• Book IV: The Natural Value of Land, Capital, and Labour
• Chapter I: Introduction
• Chapter II: The Value of Capital and the Interest On Capital I.—DISCOUNTING
• Chapter III: The Value of Capital and the Interest On Capital (continued) . II.—THE Rate of Interest
• Chapter IV: The Value of Capital and the Interest On Capital (continued). III.— The Law of the Uniform Calculation of the Interest Rate
• Chapter V: The Value of Capital and the Interest On Capital (continued.) IV.—CHANGE In the Rate of Interest
• Chapter VI: The Value of Capital and the Interest On Capital (continued) . V.—THE Valuation of Fixed Capital
• Chapter VII: The Value of Capital and the Interest On Capital ( Continued ) VI.— Capitalisation
• Chapter VIII: Interest On the Consumption Loan. House Rent
• Chapter IX: The Value of Land
• Chapter X: The Value of Labour
• Chapter XI.: The Value of Production Goods, With Reference to the Competition Between Present and Future Interests
• Book V: The Natural Cost Value of Products
• Chapter I: The Law of Costs
• Chapter II: The Conception of Costs
• Chapter III: Foundation of the Law of Costs
• Chapter IV: Conditions Under Which the Law of Costs Obtains
• Chapter V: The Determining Amount of Costs
• Chapter VI: The Law of Costs and the General Law of Value
• Chapter VII: The So-called Costs of Production of Labour
• Chapter VIII: The Cost Theories
• Chapter IX: The Cost Theories ( Continued ). Labour As an Element In Cost
• Chapter X: The Cost Theories ( Continued ). Capital As an Element In Cost
• Chapter XI: The Cost Theories (continued) . Interest As an Element In Cost
• Chapter XII: The Cost Theories (continued) . Land Rent As an Element In Cost
• Chapter XIII: The Service of Individual Economic Value In National Economy 1
• Book VI: Value In the Economy of the State
• Chapter I: Introduction
• Chapter II: The Province of a State Economy
• Chapter III: Value In the Natural Economy of the State
• Chapter IV: Value In the Present-day Economy of the State
• Chapter V: The Fundamental Law of Collective Valuation

CHAPTER IX

the individual factors of imputation. i.—supply

Those things which are always adduced as causing the changes in the value of production goods, effect this change, in the first instance, by altering the amount of contribution imputed to the production goods. We shall now discuss these in turn, and this may possibly prove the most wearisome part of our task.

In the first place we have to notice the available supply. The larger the available supply of any definite kind of productive instruments, the less important may and must be the goods produced—always supposing that in other respects no disturbing change of circumstance takes place. If more iron be raised, iron products of smaller marginal utility may and must be made. It is inevitable that this result should be attributed to the material, the iron, and expressed in a lower valuation of its marginal productive service. It cannot be imputed to any other factor, such as the labour that cooperates in the production, as no change has taken place in the circumstances of any other factor. Of all the equations of return, only those in which iron occurs have been reduced, those in which labour occurs, expended on other materials, remaining unaltered; consequently the calculation is lower for the former, not for the latter. To iron, therefore, and not to labour, is imputed a smaller share of the return. If one were to calculate everything as before, or were to impute to labour the diminished return, the calculation would defeat its own purpose; one would be calculating as if everything could be spent as before, or as if labour could be employed with greater freedom. Neither of these could be allowed.

Of all production goods, the smallest contributions must be imputed to those the supplies of which are most abundant in comparison with the demand for them. These may be spent most freely, down to their most insignificant uses. So far as productive exploitation is concerned, it is desirable that those goods which are most needed should also be the most abundant, and should have the smallest contributions imputed to then.1

[1]It may be of use to the English reader to note how our representative English economist expresses similar ideas:—“Other things being equal, the larger the supply of any agent of production, the farther will it have to push its way into uses for which it is not specially fitted, and the lower will be the demand price with which it will have to be contented in those uses in which its employment is on the verge or margin of not being found profitable; and, in so far as competition equalises the price which it gets in all uses, this price will be its price for all uses. The extra production resulting from the increase in that agent of production will go to swell the national dividend, and other agents of production will benefit thereby; but that agent itself will have to submit to a lower rate of pay.”— Marshall, Principles of Economics, 2nd edit., p. 565.— W.S.