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An essay on the biological origin of producing surplus value by human labor

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Journal of Bioeconomics Aims and scope

Abstract

In this essay, we explore the origins of the ability to produce surplus value through human labor. The main hypothesis is that the safety factor for energy capacity in humans determines the surplus value of human labor in human societies. We estimate the safety factor for Homo sapiens to be around 2.78. This is based on the rise of the encephalization quotient from 2.5 in Australopithecus africanus to 5.8 in H. sapiens, and we assume this rise is matched by a rise in the safety factor from 1.2 to 2.78. Being a communal species compels human individuals to produce both their personal and their community’s energy need. The possible correlation between Dunbar’s number and the safety factor of energy production capacity provides a very essential feature of human labor, namely “surplus value”. The average labor activity of a modern human is sufficient to provide energy for two to three people’s energy burden in a community. Human labor not only produces the energy for survival of an individual but also produces a surplus due to the safety factor. Therefore, work activity of an individual enables them to supply more than they need for themselves as a value.

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Abbreviations

BMR:

Basal metabolic rate

BMI:

Body mass index

WME:

Metabolic expenditure associated with working activity

M:

Average weight of the species

EQ:

Encephalization quotient

InQ:

Innovation quotient

E\(_{\mathrm{HL}}\) :

Energy created by human labor

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Acknowledgements

This manuscript did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Dumlupınar Bulv. Campus, 07058, Antalya, Turkey

    Hilmi Uysal

  2. Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Bülent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Turkey

    Hüseyin Tuğrul Atasoy

  3. Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey

    Uğur Bilge

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  1. Hilmi Uysal
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  2. Hüseyin Tuğrul Atasoy
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  3. Uğur Bilge
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Correspondence to Hilmi Uysal.

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Uysal, H., Atasoy, H.T. & Bilge, U. An essay on the biological origin of producing surplus value by human labor. J Bioecon 19, 187–199 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10818-017-9248-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10818-017-9248-9

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