The Transformation Problem: Is the Standard Commodity a Solution?

This paper attempts to closely investigate the relationship between Ricardo's search for an invariable measure of value and Sraffa's Standard commodity on the one hand and Marx's transformation problem and his notion of exploitation on the other. The paper argues that Marx's notion of exploitation is subtly different from the Sraffian notion of exploitation as suggested by Garegnani. And that the Standard commodity is not a solution to Marx's transformation problem as suggested by Eatwell. The paper is an attempt to initiate a fruitful dialog between Marxists and Sraffians on the question of labor as a unit of measure and its relation to the notion of exploitation.