Akumulacja kapitału materialnego w społeczeństwach późnego kapitalizmu
Accumulation of Capital in Late Capitalist Societies

Summary/Abstract: The article addresses the issue of property and income inequalities as well as the mechanisms of their formation and growth. It is suggested that these inequalities are primarily an outcome of an ability for capital accumulation depending on the income volume and the needs structure. The thesis is verified by means of a theoretical model of material capital accumulation that is based on the relationship between income, on the one hand, and socially and culturally conditioned needs, on the other. The model is applied to the analysis of capital accumulation in late capitalist societies, Polish society in particular. As a result, four income spheres are identified, each characterized by different mechanisms of accumulation. The basic factor determining the ability to accumulate capital is structural (the place in the social structure). This structural factor is further conditioned by cultural (e.g. consumption patterns), institutional (e.g. tax burden), economic (e.g. rate of return for investments), and other structural (e.g. overall inequalities) factors in determining the ability for capital accumulation

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