The subtitle of Sraffa’s most celebrated work, Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, is prelude to a critique of economic theory. Given that no later work was ever published by Sraffa, we are left to wonder what would have come after the prelude. This paper suggests that the core of the critique might have been the 10 marginal method itself. By carefully distinguishing between published and unpublished work, we shows that Sraffa’s opposition to the marginal method follows several threads, some of which were developed over a period of nearly 35 years, such as the belief that economic theory should use only measurable and observable magnitudes, the critique of the ‘fundamental’ symmetry between production and 15 consumption, and the disagreement with the Marshallian concept of equilibrium. Although none of the arguments reached a stage that Sraffa considered satisfactory enough to be worth publishing, our reconstruction sheds light on his research programme and on otherwise rather obscure passages in his works.

Sraffa and his arguments against 'marginism' / Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina; A., Rosselli. - In: CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS. - ISSN 0309-166X. - STAMPA. - 35:1(2011), pp. 219-231. [10.1093/cje/beq005]

Sraffa and his arguments against 'marginism'

MARCUZZO, Maria Cristina;
2011

Abstract

The subtitle of Sraffa’s most celebrated work, Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, is prelude to a critique of economic theory. Given that no later work was ever published by Sraffa, we are left to wonder what would have come after the prelude. This paper suggests that the core of the critique might have been the 10 marginal method itself. By carefully distinguishing between published and unpublished work, we shows that Sraffa’s opposition to the marginal method follows several threads, some of which were developed over a period of nearly 35 years, such as the belief that economic theory should use only measurable and observable magnitudes, the critique of the ‘fundamental’ symmetry between production and 15 consumption, and the disagreement with the Marshallian concept of equilibrium. Although none of the arguments reached a stage that Sraffa considered satisfactory enough to be worth publishing, our reconstruction sheds light on his research programme and on otherwise rather obscure passages in his works.
2011
Sraffa; marginal method; Production of Commodities
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Sraffa and his arguments against 'marginism' / Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina; A., Rosselli. - In: CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS. - ISSN 0309-166X. - STAMPA. - 35:1(2011), pp. 219-231. [10.1093/cje/beq005]
File allegati a questo prodotto
File Dimensione Formato  
Marcuzzo_Sraffa-marginism_2010.pdf

solo gestori archivio

Tipologia: Documento in Post-print (versione successiva alla peer review e accettata per la pubblicazione)
Licenza: Tutti i diritti riservati (All rights reserved)
Dimensione 565.02 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
565.02 kB Adobe PDF   Contatta l'autore

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/90876
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 29
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 17
social impact