Архив статей журнала
Regularities of a production system development are discussed on the basis of the notion that progress in human economic activity is related to advances in the technological use of human effort and energy sources, which are regarded as the most important societal production resources. The concept of substitutive work of equipment P is introduced, which in all respects is equivalent to the efforts of people in production; it can be considered a service of capital, and is regarded as a value-forming factor, along with the traditional production factors. System output (value production) is defined as a function of three variables, two of which are: labour L and substitutive work P, are regarded as active sources of value, which allows us to introduce an energy measure of value, while physical capital K, as a production factor, plays a passive role. Under the assumption that the production system seeks to use all available social resources defined by circumstances external to the system, equations for production factors are formulated; they are also accompanied by equations for the technological characteristics of production equipment. The trajectory of the system development is determined by the characteristics of the system itself and the availability of social resources, which cannot be used completely simultaneously, which leads to a change of modes of development and fluctuations in output, i.e. business cycles. Using the example of the U.S. economy, it is demonstrated that the system of equations is able to describe the observed trajectory of development and output of the production system.