Centralization of capital- one of two methods (along with concentration) of capital accumulation, which is a process of consolidation of capital by combining several capitals into one, absorbing or joining other existing capitals. Centralization significantly expands the possibilities for growth in the size of capitalist enterprises.

The process of centralization of capital is carried out as a result of fierce competition, during which weaker capitalists, unable to withstand competition, are ruined, and their capital is expropriated by larger and stronger capitalists or their associations. One of the forms of centralization of capital is the formation of joint-stock companies, used to establish the dominance of large capital over many previously independent capitals united in joint-stock form.

Centralization is closely related to the concentration of capital: the growth and consolidation of capital through the accumulation of surplus value ensures the progress of centralization by absorbing and displacing weaker capitalists; in turn, centralization, by enlarging capital, stimulates larger scales of capitalization of surplus value.

Taken together, the concentration and centralization of capital lead to an increase in the concentration of production in the hands of a few, increasingly large entrepreneurs, in whose enterprises a significant part of the total capital of the industry is concentrated. At a certain stage of development, this process leads to the emergence of monopolies. Under imperialism, the centralization of capital accelerates many times over, leading to the concentration of the decisive part of the capital and wealth of society in the hands of the leading monopolies; the process of centralization already occurs at the level of monopoly capital.

The increased mobility of loan capital predetermines the particular intensity of centralization in banking, where more and more financial resources fall under the centralized monopolistic control of the largest banks and other financial and credit institutions - insurance monopolies, investment companies, pension funds, savings institutions.

The key link in the system of financial-oligarchic domination is the merger, interweaving, merging of industrial and banking monopolies. During the period of the general crisis of capitalism, the centralization of capital occurs not only horizontally, when the capital of enterprises in one industry is added, but also vertically, which involves the subordination of companies involved in all stages of the production process: extraction and processing of raw materials, energy, production of components, finished products , sales area. On the basis of vertical centralization, diversified monopolies arose, which consistently extended their dominance to all sectors and spheres of the capitalist economy.

Since the mid-50s, a new form of centralization of capital has become widespread - diversification, i.e., the absorption of firms that are not related to production and produce heterogeneous products. In search of new areas for the application of capital, the largest monopolies strive to weaken their dependence on the state of the market for one product and turn into a complex diversified organism. With the development of the process of internationalization of economic life characteristic of modern imperialism, the centralization of capital took an important place in the expansion of international industrial and banking monopolies.

Investments in the economies of many countries are carried out not only through internal savings, but also thanks to intensified mergers and acquisitions of foreign companies. The centralization of capital of both national and international monopolies and banks is based on the broad support of the bourgeois state, which uses a variety of direct and indirect methods to stimulate the growth of the economic power of financial capital. In modern conditions, the process of centralization of capital has a direct consequence of an unprecedented intensification of monopolistic competition at the national and international levels and intensifies the exploitation of workers.

36. Changes in the parameters of the structure of the banking sector (such as concentration of capital, provision of certain types of services, location of credit institutions by region) should occur on market principles. The role of the state is to ensure, at the legislative level and in regulating the processes of concentration and centralization of capital, conditions that contribute to the implementation of the development goals of the banking sector, including:

protecting the interests of creditors, depositors, clients and owners of credit institutions;

development of the banking services market and increasing the level of satisfaction of demand for them;

strengthening market discipline and developing competition in the banking services market.

The reorganization of sustainable credit institutions should be based on the principle of voluntariness.

All reorganization procedures must strictly comply with the legal standards established by the legislation of the Russian Federation. Reorganization procedures can be carried out only if the parameters of the risks assumed by the organization formed after the reorganization are within the boundaries of generally established prudential standards.

37. In the interests of developing the banking services market, it is necessary to create more favorable conditions for the consolidation, merger and acquisition of credit institutions. To this end, the following steps must be taken:

adopt legislative and regulatory legal acts that will significantly speed up and reduce the cost of the procedure for reorganizing credit institutions through mergers and acquisitions;

provide for provisions in the legislation establishing that only creditors who are individuals have the right to demand early fulfillment of monetary obligations if the obligations to them arose before the date of the credit institutions’ announcement of the reorganization. Requirements for early fulfillment of obligations by credit institutions to creditors - legal entities are subject to satisfaction if the terms of the agreement grant the creditor - legal entity this right.

This procedure will ensure conditions for preserving the liquidity and solvency of the credit organization acquiring or created as a result of a merger or transformation.

38. The level of development of the banking sector is largely determined by the state of banking activity and the dynamics of development of the banking network in the regions.

The ability of regional authorities and the business community to make targeted efforts to develop market relations and create favorable opportunities for the investment of capital at the regional level plays an important role in ensuring a more balanced distribution of financial resources territorially, expanding the supply of banking services and creating banks, including branches large banks from other regions. In this regard, the Government of the Russian Federation and the Bank of Russia, when implementing measures to protect competition in the banking services market, will help create conditions for conducting banking business in various regions.

39. The Bank of Russia and the relevant federal executive authorities will prepare amendments to regulatory legal acts providing for simplification of the procedure for opening and registering a branch of a credit institution. It is planned to make a decision to abolish the state duty paid by credit institutions for opening a branch.

It is necessary to develop regulations on the procedure for coordinating alarm systems and security of bank premises. It is also necessary to establish clear uniform requirements and lists of documents requested from credit institutions when registering branches and other structural units.

In order to develop the banking network in the regions and create more favorable conditions for equalizing opportunities for access to banking services in Russian regions, it is envisaged to legislatively determine the possibilities of credit institutions to create internal structural divisions in the form and manner established by regulations of the Bank of Russia. For its part, the Bank of Russia will prepare regulations governing the procedure for banks to create mobile cash service points. These measures will provide credit institutions with the opportunity to develop and improve their internal organizational structure, respond flexibly to changing needs of the population for certain types of banking services and bring banking services as close as possible to the consumer.

40. An important condition for the development of banking activities and increasing the stability of banks is to increase the capital of banks, improve its quality and ensure a sufficient level of capital coverage of the risks taken by banks.

The increase in banks' capital will be achieved mainly through the capitalization of their profits, as well as by attracting funds from Russian and foreign investors. The development of operations of credit institutions to attract and place funds through the introduction of a deposit insurance system, mortgages, and expansion of lending to the population and small and medium-sized businesses will contribute to the growth of banks' capital.

In order to increase the requirements for the level of capitalization of credit institutions, changes will be made to the legislation of the Russian Federation, according to which the capital adequacy requirement, failure to comply with which is considered as grounds for the mandatory revocation of a license to conduct banking operations, will be set at 10 percent. This requirement will apply to all credit institutions, regardless of type (banks, non-bank credit organizations) and the amount of equity (capital) from 2007.

At the same time, taking into account the requirements for banks in the European Community, the legislation will establish a requirement for the minimum capital of operating banks from 2007 in the amount of 5 million euros. At the same time, by analogy with the decision adopted in 1989 by the European Community, it will be provided that existing banks with a capital of less than 5 million euros on January 1, 2007 may continue to operate, provided that their capital does not fall below the level that was achieved at the time of introduction of these requirements.

Accumulation serves as the basis for the concentration of capital, which is understood as the process of increasing the size of individual capital as a result of capitalization of the surplus value (profit) it brings.

Since this process is associated with the size of surplus value, or profit, which, in turn, depends on the size of the capital creating it, it becomes clear that concentration means the concentration of an increasingly larger part of the capital of society in the hands of owners of large capitals.

The more capital is concentrated among a smaller proportion of capital owners, the greater the degree of its concentration.

So, in two industries there may be the same number of capital owners, for example, 1 thousand people, and the same amount of total capital, for example, 1 billion rubles. But if in the first industry the sizes of individual capitals are approximately the same (1 million rubles each), and in the other 900 million rubles. capital is concentrated in the hands of 9 people, 100 million rubles each. each, the remaining 100 million rubles. are in the hands of 991 people, then the second industry is characterized by high concentration of capital. A high degree of concentration also determines higher rates of capital accumulation, since large capitals bring greater profits and have greater accumulation possibilities.

The concentration of capital is usually accompanied by the concentration of production - the process of concentrating factors and production volumes in large enterprises. The concentration of production is sectoral in nature and shows what share of the means of production, labor and volume of output in a given industry is accounted for by large enterprises.

The above example of the concentration of capital can be used to illustrate the process of concentration of production, if we assume that each owner of capital is also the owner of the enterprise. In this case, it turns out that in the second industry, 90% of the means of production, and therefore the bulk of the labor force and manufactured products, are concentrated in 9 enterprises. Such an industry appears as an industry with a high concentration of production.

It should be noted that industries may differ in different ratios of the three factors of production in relation to each other. In this regard, nature-intensive, labor-intensive and capital-intensive industries are distinguished, that is, industries with a relatively large share of the use (and corresponding costs) of natural, labor and capital resources. That is why the volume of products produced serves as a general indicator of production concentration. If a significant part of the total volume of products produced in an industry is concentrated in a few enterprises, then this indicates a high concentration of production in this industry.

The concentration of capital can be accelerated by its centralization. Centralization of capital is the process of increasing the size of capital as a result of the combination or merger of several previously independent capitals. This process is achieved in two ways:

through the voluntary merger of individual capitals into one. This is often done under the influence of competition in order to preserve individual capital if it is threatened with absorption by larger capital. Sometimes capitals are combined to create a single joint venture if capital alone is not enough for this.

One of the ways of such a combination is to create an enterprise in the form of a joint stock company. The capital of the company is formed through the issue and sale of shares - securities that certify that their owner has a share in the capital of the company and gives the right to receive a corresponding share of the profit of the joint-stock company;

by the absorption of one capital by another, usually larger one. Typically, such a takeover is the result of competition - large capital has a stronger position in it. So large capitals grow faster than small ones, not only as a result of larger-scale accumulation, but also as a result of the absorption of other capitals.

Centralization of capital often reflects the centralization of production, which involves the unification of independent enterprises into a single production whole - into a larger enterprise or into a production complex consisting of two or more enterprises performing common production tasks.

Such a merger of enterprises can be either voluntary,

and forced for one of the merging parties. In the first case, it involves a merger of capital through a merger of enterprises. In the second case, one enterprise loses in the competition, is declared bankrupt and its property is sold to pay off debts. It can be bought up by the owner of large capital and become his property.

Centralization of capital and production, meaning the consolidation of individual capital, in turn, contributes to their accelerated accumulation and further growth.

Test questions and assignments

What functional forms does capital have? Why does the circulation of capital presuppose a consistent change of its forms?

What is profit and how does it differ from surplus value?

The cost of producing goods at the enterprise is 5 thousand rubles. Determine the amount of profit of the enterprise if it sold 200 units of goods at a market value of 6 thousand rubles.

What is meant by the process of reproduction of capital? Why is the reproduction of individual capital impossible in isolation from the reproduction of social capital?

What characterizes the expanded reproduction of capital? Let's say a capital of 90 million rubles. each year brings in a surplus value of 20 million rubles, one half of which is converted into capital, and the other goes for personal consumption of the owner of the capital. In how many years will the capital double? How can we explain the desire of capital for expanded reproduction?

What is meant by capital accumulation? What is net worth? Why is it necessary for society?

How does extensive reproduction of capital differ from intensive reproduction? Which type of reproduction is preferable and why?

What is meant by concentration of capital? What does this process have in common with the concentration of production and what distinguishes these processes from each other?

Explain how centralization of capital and production promotes accelerated capital accumulation.

More on topic 9.4. Concentration and centralization of capital and production:

1. 7.1. The necessity and essence of credit. Subjects of credit relations
2. 6.2. Structure and mechanism of functioning of the credit system, forms of credit
3. 9.4. Concentration and centralization of capital and production
4. 3. CONCENTRATION AND CENTRALIZATION OF BANKING CAPITAL IN RUSSIA AND THE NEW ROLE OF BANKS IN THE ERA OF IMPERIALISM
5. CONCENTRATION AND CENTRALIZATION OF PRODUCTION AND CAPITAL DURING THE WAR
6. Increasing the level of concentration and centralization of production.

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Concentration of capital involves the gradual concentration and increase in volumes of resources through the merger (centralization) of funds (productive activities) of companies belonging to different owners, the transformation of profits into capital, as well as the capitalization of interest on the income part (surplus value).

The accumulation of resources is carried out on the basis of laws that determine the main methods of production in conditions of market competition.

In order for products to be in demand and occupy the first positions in the rating, business owners monitor the activities of competitors. We constantly develop and implement new methods to modernize and improve the quality of goods or services, as well as optimize production capacity taking into account consumer demand. To actively concentrate resources, modern technical solutions, the latest technologies and innovative materials are being introduced to help increase production.

Areas of capital development

• trading, formed for the purpose of conducting various operations;
• circulating, located in the production cycle for the purpose of manufacturing, delivery and sale of products;
• loan, attracted from third-party sources of financing for the purpose of investing or insuring risks arising in production.

• modernization of the production base;
• improvement of technologies for manufacturing goods;
• expanding the scale and efficiency of activities;
• ensuring competitiveness;
• increasing production flexibility;
• coverage of risk events.

Accumulative resources

Focusing and increasing resources begins with equity. On its basis, schemes are created with the help of which finances are increased (increased). According to the standard scheme, capital formation is ensured by accruing interest to savings funds from the income received as a result of the sale of finished products.

Dividends from the sale of securities are considered an effective resource for increasing capital. Shares bring good passive income to improve the financial position of the company without the need to invest large sums of money. It is enough to analyze the current market situation. As a result of the concentration of resources, monopolies and powerful production and financial associations arise that are capable of influencing the world market.

Capital accumulation takes place in two forms: concentration of capital and centralization of capital. What these forms have in common is that they are expressed in the enlargement of the size of individual capital, caused by the desire to increase advanced capital in order to increase future profits. But this consolidation is due to various processes.

Capital concentration - this is an increase in the size of capital due to the accumulation of part of the resulting surplus value. The greater the initially advanced capital, the more, other things being equal, the more surplus value is created, the greater the amount of entrepreneurial profit, and therefore the greater the opportunity for directing part of M nak for further improvement of capitalist production, primarily through the use of more efficient equipment and technology. This improvement, causing an increase in the efficiency of production, leads to the creation of even greater opportunities for the further concentration of capital. As they say, “money comes to money.”

Centralization of capital – This is an increase in the size of capital due to voluntary associations or acquisitions of one capital by another. Naturally, smaller capital acts as the absorbed capital, and larger capital annexes it to itself, since it has advantages in the competitive struggle, that is, in this case, “money goes to money.” The logic of competition also drives voluntary associations of capital, since their owners are forced to reckon with the fact that the size of their individual capital is not enough to carry out urgent transformations in their production, primarily for the purchase of necessary equipment, the introduction not of individual technical means, but of more efficient technologies. Marx notes: “... it is clear that accumulation, the gradual increase of capital through reproduction moving from a circular to a spiral form of movement, is an extremely slow process compared to centralization, which requires a change only in the quantitative grouping of the constituent parts of social capital. The world would still be without railways if it had to wait until accumulation brought individual capital to such a size that they could cope with the construction of a railway. On the contrary, centralization through joint stock companies accomplished this in an instant. …The masses of capital, united in a very short time by the process of centralization, are reproduced and increased in the same way as other capitals, but only faster, and thus in turn become powerful levers of social accumulation.”

Marx names competition and credit as the two most powerful levers of centralization.

There is a relationship between the concentration and centralization of capital; these forms of accumulation can be separated only for the purpose of scientific analysis, but in real life they are carried out as a single process of capital accumulation: the consolidation of individual capital through the capitalization of surplus value enhances its competitive capabilities, increases its ability to displace and absorb weaker capital makes it more attractive to partners looking for merger opportunities. On the other hand, the centralization of capital makes it possible to obtain large profits through the use of enlarged advanced capital; from large profits it is possible to allocate significantly larger sums to the concentration of capital. And this will pay off handsomely, since the results of fundamental improvements in production always produce economic results that exceed the results of “spot” injections.

The fact is that new, more advanced equipment is in the vast majority of cases more expensive than outdated analogues (if we are talking about equipment that implements the same technological principle). K. Marx characterized this pattern as relative reduction in price equipment, reducing the share of the cost of machines in the cost of a unit of the finished product. It occurs because the increase in the cost of a new machine is less than the increase in its productivity. It is clear that if the cost of a new machine exceeds the cost of the one it is replacing, for example, by two times, and productivity by three times, then the share of depreciation in the cost of a unit of manufactured products will be one and a half times less in the case of using a new machine.

In cases where new technology embodies a fundamentally different, more economical, technological principle, we are dealing with absolute reduction in price technology. But these cases are more rare (see 6.3 for more details). It is important for us now to emphasize that in order to carry out activities aimed at increasing the efficiency of production, at carrying out expanded reproduction of an intensive type, quite significant advanced capital is required, therefore both forms of capital accumulation come down to an increase in the size of individual capital, although as a result of centralization this happens faster.

The result of interconnected processes of concentration and centralization of capital is increased concentration of production.

Production concentration is manifested in the concentration of an increasing part of the means of production, labor and volume of output at the largest enterprises, since these enterprises win in competition with weaker ones, primarily due to economies of scale.

Law of concentration of production, discovered by K. Marx, expresses the cause-and-effect relationship between competition, which necessitates the accumulation of capital (in the forms of concentration and centralization of capital) and an increase in the share of large enterprises in the economy. This cause-and-effect relationship can be depicted schematically:

Competition→capital accumulation→increasing concentration of production