Time-Constrained Capital Dynamics:A Quantitative Reconstruction of Value Transformation and Platform Extraction

This paper develops the Life-Value Reflow Theory, a unified framework for analyzing economic exchange that treats irreversible individual life duration (T) as the ultimate binding constraint. Departing from static general equilibrium models, the theory establishes a dynamic macroeconomic accounting closure condition in which value creation and dissipation are measured in physical Life-Equivalent Units (LEU).

At the core of the framework is a three-dimensional nonlinear dynamical system governed by three key variables: the Network Anchoring Coefficient (C), capturing a node’s control over attention and transaction pathways; the Structural Extraction Rate (η), representing the proportion of value systematically appropriated by central nodes; and the Base-layer Pursuit Intensity (P), reflecting agents’ endogenous willingness to invest life-energy.

By integrating the Lotka–Volterra predator-prey mechanism and extending Goodwin’s (1967) growth cycle model, the paper demonstrates how digital platform capitalism generates endogenous crises through sustained limit-cycle oscillations driven by a Hopf bifurcation. The theory further provides a mechanistic reinterpretation of classical economic phenomena, including Say’s Law, the Malthusian Trap, and asset bubbles. In particular, it offers a network-based reconstruction of Marx’s transformation problem and the tendency of the rate of profit to fall, generalizing these insights to the context of digital platforms where asymmetric extraction enables dominant nodes to sustain persistently high profit rates.

The central finding is that capital accumulation—whether in traditional or digital form—is fundamentally bounded by the physiological and psychological recovery capacity of the base layer. The framework thereby supplies a rigorous dynamical lens for diagnosing the structural vulnerabilities of contemporary capitalism.