Labour, Rights, and Public Value: Reconstructing Value Theory for a Just Economy

This paper reconstructs value theory to support just, resilient, and rights-based economic systems, including those not reliant on growth. It defines value as a net contribution to social and ecological wellbeing, resilience, and legitimacy. Departing from classical labour and neoclassical utility theories, it frames value as relational, systemic, and shaped by rights and exclusion. The paper outlines a typology of value creation, extraction, and transfer; reclaims labour as a contributive agency; and integrates ecological and institutional roles. It proposes a recognition framework that affirms unpaid and non-market contributions without commodification. The theory underpins fiscal systems that tax extractive privileges and supports indicators that embed legitimacy, continuity, and care into public policy design.