Search

This paper reinterprets some intuitions from Marx by using a model of endogenous cycles in three dimensions: employment rate, wage share, and labor intensity (this last variable has not received enough attention in the Marxian literature of cyclical models). The paper presents an analytical demonstration (using the Hopf bifurcation theorem) and numerical simulations for the existence of stable cycles in the model if the mechanization rate is sufficiently high and the bargaining power of the working class to increase wages is lower than a given threshold. In contrast, the model is unstable when the bargaining power of the working class is too high; a result that motivates the discussion of the notion of structural economic crises (which differ from the periodic economic crises that emerge in the context of capitalist cycles). The paper concludes with a summary of results and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]