Basic Income and Productivity in Cognitive Capitalism

Article: FUMAGALLI, Andrea & LUCARELLI, Stefano (2008), 'Basic Income and productivity in Cognitive Capitalism', Review of Social Economics, Vol. LXVI, issue 1, March 2008: 14-37.

Abstract

In this article basic income (BI) is not considered merely as a measure to raise both living standards and social well-being. Rather, the authors argue that it should be seen as an indispensable structural policy for achieving a healthier social order governed by a more equitable compromise between capital and labour. Embracing the French Regulation School approach, Fumagalli (University of Pavia) & Lucarelli (University of Bergamo) maintain that such a compromise is founded on the redistribution of the gains of productivity. In advancing the argument, they focus on the socio-economic transformation that has overtaken the Fordist paradigm within Western Countries and propose the term Cognitive Capitalism (CC) to describe the economic system. The authors address the relationship between the exploitation of knowledge and the accumulation of surplus, pointing out that such a process is based on the exploitation of dynamic scale economies. Their analysis highlight the ambiguity concerning the growth circle of contemporary capitalism. According to Fumagalli & Lucarelli, BI is compatible with the present form(s) of accumulation, as it increases productivity, through network and learning processes whilst increasing demand via levels of consumption. Such a result is not always guaranteed. It depends, on the one hand, upon how much BI positively affects productivity; the greater this probability, the lower the role played by intellectual property rights and the higher the diffusion of network economies (general intellect and social cooperation) and on the other, it depends upon the way BI is financed.

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Authors' addresses: afuma@eco.unipv.it, stefano.lucarelli@unibg.it