The enterprise rate of profit in key US sectors 1994–2020: An examination of the tendency towards the equalization of sectoral profit rates and a critique of Hulten and Wykoff fixed capital stock valuations in the US

Jefferies, William

Abstract

This article examines enterprise profit rates in key US sectors. Competition between capitals of different compositions modifies values into prices of production to equalize profit rates. These prices of production are further modified into enterprise profit rates when financial payments, rents and interest are treated as a cost. This article applies data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to show that (notwithstanding widely differing technical, value and organic compositions of capital, rates of turnover, proportions of productive and unproductive capital and rates of surplus value) competition tends to equalize profit rates in all sectors barring finance, insurance and real estate. It applies a method that rejects the use of neo-classical, Hulten and Wykoff, fixed capital stock (FCS) estimates (widely used in Marxian rate of profit estimates) as described in the United Nations (UN) System of National Accounts (SNA). This article estimates the overvaluation implicit in the Hulten and Wykoff statistics by sector and develops original sectoral rates of turnover, the organic composition of capital, annual rate of surplus value and enterprise rates of profit from 1994 to 2020.

Citation

Jefferies, W. (online). The enterprise rate of profit in key US sectors 1994–2020: An examination of the tendency towards the equalization of sectoral profit rates and a critique of Hulten and Wykoff fixed capital stock valuations in the US. Capital and Class, https://doi.org/10.1177/03098168251341165

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 20, 2025
• Online Publication Date: May 29, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jun 14, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 14, 2025
• Print ISSN: 0309-8168
• Electronic ISSN: 2041-0980
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/03098168251341165
• Keywords: fixed capital advanced, fixed capital stock, Hulten and Wykoff, Marxism, rate of profit
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03098168251341165