Intellectual Theory of Value: Substantiation and Formulation

Abstract

The object of research is the role of the intellectual capital and knowledge in modern economics and value creation process. Therefore, taking into account the intellectual component of value due to the transformation of the society’s productive forces structure in the transition to a post-industrial economic system, there was proven the necessity of rethinking the existing theories of value.

Based on the classic politeconomists, neoclassics and institutionalists groundwork analysis, there was defined the economic essence of the intellectual capital. This essence consisted in the people’s capacity, using the personal factor of production, rather part of it – the knowledge and intellect, to produce objectified factors. Also, there was justified the place of an intellectual capital in a system of productive forces – its feature of simultaneous affiliation to an immaterial (as a form of individual development), as far as to a material (applied knowledge) spheres.

Due to active modern automation and robotics in manufacturing, labour as a factor of production is gradually replaced by knowledge: personal and ones materialized in the means of production. Thus, there are grounds for the assumption that namely knowledge, not labour, that is present in all spheres of social production, but rather, more accurately, the productive part of knowledge – an intellectual capital is the source of the value of goods in a post-industrial (neoindustrial) economic system. Modern economy has inherent significant share the intellectual component that participates in generating the innovative goods as the new value.

Therefore, based on the above stated, the «intellectual theory of value» was formulated, which defines directions for the intellectual economics paradigm development in future.

Keywords: intellectual capital, theories of value, surplus value, intellectual economy, sustainable development, intellectual theory of value

JEL Classification: D46, D83