Labor-power
To Karl Marx, there was a clear distinction between labor and labor-power in economics. "Labor" refers to the actual activity or effort of producing goods or services (what Marx called use-values). Neoclassical economists sometimes refer to this as "labor services." On the other hand, "labor-power" or "laboring power" refers to a person's ability to work, his or her muscle-power and brain-power. In some ways, this concept is similar to that of "human capital."
Under capitalism, to Marx, labor-power is a commodity, sold and bought on the market. A worker tries to sell his or her labor-power on the market for a wage or salary. If successful (rather than involving unemployment), this involves submitting to the authority of the capitalist for a specific period of time. During that time, he or she does actual labor, producing the goods and services. Selling these as commodities, the capitalist can then realize a profit or what Marx called surplus value, if the value of the product sold exceeds wages and other costs.
see exploitation.
