[1] The book received positive reviews, and it was discussed in a dedicated issue of Politics & Society.

She credited Roemer with providing an alternative to traditional ways of thinking about exploitation and class, and praised his "grandeur of vision" and "brilliance of argument and insight".

However, she wrote that the book also had "serious failings", citing an issue of Politics & Society where Roemer had been criticized by the sociologist Erik Olin Wright, the philosopher Andrew Levine, the social and political theorist Jon Elster, and Levi herself.

[4] Petersen described the book as "a novel and controversial contribution to the Marxian theory of exploitation and class", noting that it had received praise from political scientists, sociologists, mathematical economists, and philosophers and that Politics & Society had devoted an entire issue to it.

[5] Lebowitz wrote that Roemer employed elegant models and techniques and offered admirable discussions of many issues.

They credited Roemer with presenting "an important dissenting view in which a property-relations definition of class is defended in Marxist terms".