The theory and changes of Taiwan’s Reserve Army of Labour

自1980年代起新自由主義的崛起，主張自由市場、自由貿易、和不受限制的資本流動，認為這樣將能創造出最大的社會、政治、和經濟的利益，並以全球化來運用全世界的資源，但卻反而使失業成為全球性的普遍趨勢。在歷經了幾次的全球性金融危機，尤其是近年2008年由美國次貸危機引起的全球金融海嘯，更是令各國的失業率皆明顯上升。隨著新自由主義全球化的擴張，主流經濟學對於日漸嚴重的失業問題顯然已不足以提供充分的解釋，因而社會上開始對失業現象尋求另一種解釋。 本研究希望對於現今的失業現象，找出一個較為合理的解釋。首先分別闡述了主流經濟學和馬克思《資本論》中對於失業問題的解釋，再就馬克思在《資本論》中對相對過剩人口的定義，將台灣產業後備軍分為四種類型，並以時間序列對台灣勞動力市場中，產業後備軍的定量及流動量做分析，觀察其整體走勢及在景氣衰退期的變化。由第三章中的統計表以及趨勢圖，我們觀察出數種現象，有力的直接支持了《資本論》中所指出的，資本主義的內在規律對勞動階級影響的看法。 從本篇研究和Deepankar Basu（2013）在“The Reserve Army of Labor in the Postwar U. S. Economy”文中對美國失業現象作的分析，均得出一致性的結論，即馬克思對於失業的解釋是較為科學且周全的，認為《資本論》對於資本主義中的失業現象的觀點，是相較於主流經濟學學說，更具有科學性和合理性的論述。Neoliberalism, which claims that free markets and trade, globalization of world resources, and unrestricted capital flow will maximally benefit the interests of society, politics, and the economy, rose to prominence in the 1980s. However, the outcome was far from the perceived ideal, resulting in an increase in worldwide unemployment. After several global financial crises, in particular the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, the unemployment rate dramatically increased in every country. With the expansion of neoliberal globalization, the worldwide unemployment problem has become increasingly unmanageable with mainstream economic policies, prompting economists everywhere to seek alternative solutions to this issue. The purpose of this study is to find a more accurate explanation of the current worldwide unemployment problem. First, we will frame the unemployment problem from the perspective of mainstream economics and contrast it with that of “Das Kapital”. Next, we will classify Taiwan’s reserve army of labor into four categories, according to the definition provided in “Das Kapital”. Thirdly, we will analyze the stocks and flows of Taiwan’s reserve army of labor via time series, and observe the trends and changes during economic recessions. Finally, after analysis of the statistical tables and run charts in chapter 3, we validate the perspective taken by “Das Kapital” - that the inherent law of capitalism has negatively influenced the working class. From the analysis of unemployment in America performed by Deepankar Basu（2013）along with this study, we can conclude “Das Kapital” explains the unemployment problem of capitalism in a more scientific and comprehensive manner when compared to the explanations provided by mainstream economic theory