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What's the difference between Menger's use value and exchange value and Marx's use value and exchange value?

What's the difference between Menger's use value and exchange value and Marx's use value and exchange value?

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Felipe posted on Wed, Jul 20 2011 11:53 AM

Are they completely different concepts or do they hold some similarities?

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Answered (Verified) Em_ptySkin replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 2:13 PM
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here man, Mengers own words.

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Answered (Verified) Consumariat replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 2:21 PM
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This might not be very helpful if you do not have access to journals through an academic institution, but there is a paper on this subject entitled 'Marx and Menger on value: as many similarities as differences' that can be found here.

I will try and remember to post up a few select quotes from the article next  time I pop into college.

The abstract reads;

 

This paper argues that, as far as theories of value and money are concerned, Marx and Menger have more in common than has been traditionally maintained. Each of them had his own abstract concept of value, distinct from labour or utility and prior to prices. Moreover, both proposed theories of value form and provided explanations of the origin of money. These concepts and theories can hardly be found in the works of Smith and Ricardo, nor in those of Jevons and Walras, because they were primarily concerned with the determination of exchange ratios. Furthermore, Marx and Menger become more sharply divided owing to their similarities. They shared many questions to which they offered opposite answers.
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Answered (Verified) Jonathan M. F. Catalán replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 5:22 PM
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In Menger's terms,

  • Use value: The value of a good to an individual towards the direct attainment of ends.
  • Exchange value:  The value of a good to an individual towards the indirect attainment of ends (e.g. an individual can sell good A and buy good B, the former which has no use value to him, but the latter may).

For Menger, use value and exchange value are two sides of the same coin: subjective value.

For Marx, use value is the satisfaction the good brings during the act of consumption.  Exchange value is the "market value" of the product.

They are very similar in concept; the major difference is in the underlying theory of value.  I don't know Marxian economics that well, though.

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abskebabs replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 1:59 PM

I'm sorry if this is perhaps a little lazy an answer, but I think you will find a lot of detail on these types of questions if you consult some of Menger's rather dense footnotes(moved to the back of the book as appendices in the English translation). For instance, what he meant by use value is very different to how most modern thinkers would conceive it, and is actually what we could call subjective utillity or use value, whereas he contrasts this with a conception of "utillity" that refers only to what Mises would call "objective use value." Reading the very methodical deconstructions of various classical cost of production theories of value he makes in his appendix might also help you get closer to answering your enquiry.

 

Hope that helps!

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Answered (Verified) Em_ptySkin replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 2:13 PM
Verified by Felipe

here man, Mengers own words.

Eating Propaganda

What do you mean i don't care how your day was?!

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Answered (Verified) Consumariat replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 2:21 PM
Verified by Felipe

This might not be very helpful if you do not have access to journals through an academic institution, but there is a paper on this subject entitled 'Marx and Menger on value: as many similarities as differences' that can be found here.

I will try and remember to post up a few select quotes from the article next  time I pop into college.

The abstract reads;

 

This paper argues that, as far as theories of value and money are concerned, Marx and Menger have more in common than has been traditionally maintained. Each of them had his own abstract concept of value, distinct from labour or utility and prior to prices. Moreover, both proposed theories of value form and provided explanations of the origin of money. These concepts and theories can hardly be found in the works of Smith and Ricardo, nor in those of Jevons and Walras, because they were primarily concerned with the determination of exchange ratios. Furthermore, Marx and Menger become more sharply divided owing to their similarities. They shared many questions to which they offered opposite answers.
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Felipe replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 2:45 PM

Could someone give me a link to the paper, please?

I really want to read it. Thanks.

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Consumariat replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 2:49 PM

http://cje.oxfordjournals.org/content/24/1/87.abstract

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Felipe replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 2:54 PM

Thanks but I dont have an account in the Cambridge Journal of Economics, could you upload it to some free server?

 

 

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Consumariat replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 2:56 PM

I would if I wasn't a wimp who is scared of the IP police. I'll post some quotes when I get the chance though. Sorry.

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Answered (Verified) Jonathan M. F. Catalán replied on Wed, Jul 20 2011 5:22 PM
Verified by Felipe

In Menger's terms,

  • Use value: The value of a good to an individual towards the direct attainment of ends.
  • Exchange value:  The value of a good to an individual towards the indirect attainment of ends (e.g. an individual can sell good A and buy good B, the former which has no use value to him, but the latter may).

For Menger, use value and exchange value are two sides of the same coin: subjective value.

For Marx, use value is the satisfaction the good brings during the act of consumption.  Exchange value is the "market value" of the product.

They are very similar in concept; the major difference is in the underlying theory of value.  I don't know Marxian economics that well, though.

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