V

Abstract Value is a fundamental concept of economics where it is used to signify the worth of commodities. Marx distinguished between use values and exchange values; use value refers to the value of a service or a product to a user, whereas exchange value represents its value relative to other services and products. According to the labour theory of value, the value of a commodity reflects the amount of labour involved in its production. This also applies to labour power itself when it is traded as a commodity—thus the labour power of a doctor has greater value than that of a labourer, inasmuch as it requires more time and other resources to train and sustain a doctor than a labourer. In neoclassical economics, this approach is dismissed in favour of a view that equates value to the price of a commodity in a free, open, and competitive market. Thus an object has value simply because people are prepared to pay a high price for it. Post- modern theory has added the concept of ‘sign value’—an object may be wanted not because of its uses or the possibility of exchanging it but because of the meanings it carries. Brands are strong carriers of sign value—a branded product commands greater value than an identical unbranded one, because of the prestige and status that it brings to its owner.