Exploitation: Monopolistic Exploitation of Labour and Monopsonistic Exploitation of Labor
Author(s)
Robinson, Joan
Abstract
Robinson considers the case of a single industry and the effect of removing the exploitation in one industry considered separately. The exploitation of labor arises from the unequal bargaining strength of employers and employed and that it can be remedied by the actions of trade unions, or of the state, which places the workers upon an equality in bargaining with employers. Bargaining strength is important but the fundamental cause of exploitation will be found to be the lack of perfect elasticity in the supply of labour or in the demand for commodities. Robinson also examines the type of exploitation which arises because the supply of labor is imperfectly elastic to the unit of control. The analysis is based specifically on a case in which all the workers employed are alike in their efficiency in the industry in question and yet progressively higher wages have to be paid to all in order to attract fresh supplies of labor.
