The Tendency of the Rate of Profit to Fall: A Model of Intra-Capitalist Competition

The following paper presents a model that indicates the relevance of intra-capitalist competition when studying the evolution of the rate of profit. The model explains how the tendency of the rate of profit to fall may emerge in a form of competition not usually studied by previous Marxian models. This model also brings a representation of how competition between firms that produce the same commodity through different productive forces may create a potential “impossibility” of simultaneous profit maximization for individual firms and even for the entire sector they belong. Both results may provide new insights on how the “chaotic” nature of capitalist real competition create important contradictions that may increase the possibility of crisis.