Interpretations of the labor theory of value face difficulties in defining the role and place of service activities with relation to the production or not of value. This problem becomes even more pronounced while historic perspective shows that nowadays services are the great employers of labor. Traditionally, services can be understood as non-productive activities, due to the fact, amongst other arguments, that they are not materialized as commodities, or that they do not produce new values and surplus-value. This paper aims to examine this issue and suggest the proposition that some services that meet specific conditions can be interpreted as productive in terms of value and surplus-value. This paper examines the categories of materiality and immateriality, as well as those of productive and non-productive labor of value, then introducing criteria to make the distinction between productive and non-productive labor of value in the service sector. Thus, it intends to contribute to clarify the understanding of the labor theory of value in a field intercrossed with discussions and differentiated theoretical standpoints.
Labor theory of value; Labor; Productive and non-productive labor; Surplus-value