Rate of Accumulation

under capitalism, the ratio of an accumulated sum of surplus value to operating capital or to the mass of surplus value; under socialism, the ratio of the value of that part of the surplus product which goes for accumulation to the value of the entire surplus product.

The rate of accumulation shows what part of national income is used for accumulation. This part forms the accumulation fund, which may be expressed by the formula a = A/I, where a is the rate of accumulation, A is the accumulation fund, and I is national income.

The production accumulation fund, that is, the part used to expand the sphere of material production, constitutes the most important part of the accumulation fund. Hence, along with the general rate of accumulation, the rate of production accumulation (the ratio of the production accumulation fund to national income) is of great importance. This proportion expresses the ratio of production of producers’ goods to production of consumer goods. In Soviet economic literature the rate of production accumulation is usually defined as the ratio between the two subdivisions of social production.