IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v80y2011i1p122-136.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A transdisciplinary perspective on economic complexity. Marshall's problem revisited

Author

Listed:
  • Cassata, Francesco
  • Marchionatti, Roberto

Abstract

“Marshall's problem” consists in finding a way to integrate physics and biology into economics in order to represent a complex economic world. It is widely believed that Alfred Marshall was the first to address the issue, but he failed to integrate the two methodological approaches into economics. In particular the prevailing view is that Marshall was unable to follow through on his declaration that biology is the “Mecca” of economics. This paper reconsiders “Marshall's problem” by focusing on the intellectual connections among Darwin, Babbage and Marshall: it explores the relationship between Marshall's view of complexity as a dialectical mixing of routine and variation and reconstructs the development of a powerful intellectual model that we call the “evolutionary machine”.

Suggested Citation

  • Cassata, Francesco & Marchionatti, Roberto, 2011. "A transdisciplinary perspective on economic complexity. Marshall's problem revisited," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 122-136.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:80:y:2011:i:1:p:122-136
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2011.03.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268111000886
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2011.03.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ronald Coase, 2006. "Marshall on method," Chapters, in: Tiziano Raffaelli & Giacomo Becattini & Marco Dardi (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Alfred Marshall, chapter 21, pages 139-146, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Rosser, J. Jr., 1992. "The dialogue between the economic and the ecologic theories of evolution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 195-215, March.
    3. Brian J. Loasby, 1989. "The Mind and Method of the Economist," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 288.
    4. Geoffrey M. Hodgson, 2006. "Economics in the Shadows of Darwin and Marx," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3925.
    5. Roberto Marchionatti, 2004. "What don't economists know now that Marshall knew a century ago? A note on Marshall's "sophisticated informality"," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 441-460.
    6. Marchionatti Roberto, 2002. "What don't economists know now that Marshall knew a century ago?," CESMEP Working Papers 200202, University of Turin.
    7. Rosser Jr., J. Barkley, 2010. "Is a transdisciplinary perspective on economic complexity possible?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 3-11, July.
    8. Wagner, Alfred, 1891. "Marshall's Principles of Economics," History of Economic Thought Articles, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, vol. 5, pages 319-338.
    9. Raffaelli, Tiziano, 2007. "Marshall's Metaphors on Method," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 29(2), pages 135-151, June.
    10. Niman, Neil B., 2008. "Charles Babbage'S Influence On The Development Of Alfred Marshall'S Theory Of The Firm," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(4), pages 479-490, December.
    11. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 2000. "Walrasian Economics in Retrospect," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1411-1439.
    12. Young, Allyn A., 1928. "Increasing Returns and Economic Progress," History of Economic Thought Articles, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, vol. 38, pages 527-542.
    13. John K. Whitaker, 2003. "Alfred Marshall’s Principles and Industry and Trade: Two Books or One? Marshall and the Joint Stock Company," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Richard Arena & Michel Quéré (ed.), The Economics of Alfred Marshall, chapter 8, pages 137-157, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Krugman, Paul, 1998. "Two Cheers for Formalism," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(451), pages 1829-1836, November.
    15. Babbage, Charles, 1832. "Economy of Machinery and Manufactures," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number babbage1832.
    16. Tiziano Raffaelli, 2009. "Industry and Trade reconsidered," History of Economic Ideas, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa - Roma, vol. 17(3), pages 59-74.
    17. W. Baumol, 2001. "What Marshall Didn't Know: On the Twentieth Century's Contributions to Economics," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, vol. 2.
    18. Niman, Neil B., 1991. "Biological Analogies in Marshall's Work," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 19-36, April.
    19. Roberto Marchionatti, 2003. "Dealing with Complexity: Marshall and Keynes on the Nature of Economic Thinking," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Richard Arena & Michel Quéré (ed.), The Economics of Alfred Marshall, chapter 3, pages 32-52, Palgrave Macmillan.
    20. J. Stanley Metcalfe, 2007. "Alfred Marshall and the General Theory of Evolutionary Economics," History of Economic Ideas, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa - Roma, vol. 15(1), pages 81-110.
    21. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2000. "The Contributions of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1441-1478.
    22. Richard M. Romano, 1982. "The Economic Ideas of Charles Babbage," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 385-405, Fall.
    23. Foster, John, 1993. "Economics and the Self-Organisation Approach: Alfred Marshall Revisited," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(419), pages 975-991, July.
    24. Roberto Marchionatti, 2003. "On the Methodological Foundations of Modern Microeconomics: Frank Knight and the “Cost Controversy” in the 1920s," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 35(1), pages 49-75, Spring.
    25. David Colander, 1995. "Marshallian General Equilibrium Analysis," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 281-293, Summer.
    26. J. Stanley Metcalfe, 2010. "Complexity and emergence in economics: the road from Smith to Hayek (via Marshall and Schumpeter)," History of Economic Ideas, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa - Roma, vol. 18(2), pages 45-76.
    27. Simon Cook, 2005. "A Wrangling Machine," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 37(4), pages 689-709, Winter.
    28. Neil Hart, 2003. "From the Representative to the Equilibrium Firm: Why Marshall was not a Marshallian," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Richard Arena & Michel Quéré (ed.), The Economics of Alfred Marshall, chapter 9, pages 158-181, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mario A. Cedrini & Roberto Marchionatti, 2017. "On the Theoretical and Practical Relevance of the Concept of Gift to the Development of a Non-imperialist Economics," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 49(4), pages 633-649, December.
    2. Antonelli Cristiano & Ferraris Gianluigi, 2012. "Endogenous knowledge externalities: an agent based simulation model where schumpeter meets Marshall," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201202, University of Turin.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Foster, John & Metcalfe, J. Stan, 2012. "Economic emergence: An evolutionary economic perspective," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 420-432.
    2. Rahmeyer Fritz, 2013. "Schumpeter, Marshall, and Neo-Schumpeterian Evolutionary Economics: A Critical Stocktaking," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 233(1), pages 39-64, February.
    3. Harry Bloch & Stan Metcalfe, 2011. "Complexity in the Theory of the Developing Firm," Chapters, in: Cristiano Antonelli (ed.), Handbook on the Economic Complexity of Technological Change, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Marchionatti, Roberto & Sella, Lisa, 2015. "Is Neo-Walrasian Macroeconomics a Dead End?," CESMEP Working Papers 201502, University of Turin.
    5. John Foster, 2021. "The US consumption function: a new perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 773-798, July.
    6. Stanley J. Metcalfe, 2010. "The Open, Evolving Economy: Alfred Marshall on Knowledge, Management and Innovation," Chapters, in: Jean-Luc Gaffard & Evens Salies (ed.), Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Fritz Rahmeyer, 2010. "A Neo-Darwinian Foundation of Evolutionary Economics. With an Application to the Theory of the Firm," Discussion Paper Series 309, Universitaet Augsburg, Institute for Economics.
    8. Geoffrey Hodgson & Kainan Huang, 2012. "Evolutionary game theory and evolutionary economics: are they different species?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 345-366, April.
    9. Manuela Mosca, 2008. "On the origins of the concept of natural monopoly: Economies of scale and competition," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(2), pages 317-353.
    10. Garrone Giovanna & Marchionatti Roberto, 2007. "The appropriate style of economic discourse. Keynes on Economics and Econometrics," CESMEP Working Papers 200702, University of Turin.
    11. Richard Holt & J. Barkley Rosser & David Colander, 2011. "The Complexity Era in Economics," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 357-369.
    12. David Simpson, 2013. "The Rediscovery of Classical Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15080.
    13. Morroni, Mario, 2014. "Production of commodities by means of processes," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 5-18.
    14. John Finch, 2000. "Is post-Marshallian economics an evolutionary research tradition?," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 377-406.
    15. Jean-Louis Peaucelle, 2012. "Rhetoric and logic in Smith's Description of the Division of Labor," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 385-408, May.
    16. Erik S. Reinert & Vemund Riiser, "undated". "Recent trends in economic theory - implications for development geography," STEP Report series 199412, The STEP Group, Studies in technology, innovation and economic policy.
    17. J. Barkley Rosser & Marina V. Rosser, 2017. "Complexity and institutional evolution," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 415-430, December.
    18. Agnieszka Gehringer, 2011. "Pecuniary Knowledge Externalities across European Countries—Are there Leading Sectors?," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 415-436.
    19. Antonelli, Cristiano, 2013. "The Economic Complexity of Innovation as a Creative Response," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201326, University of Turin.
    20. Kaushik Basu, 2016. "Beyond the Invisible Hand: Groundwork for a New Economics," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9299.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:80:y:2011:i:1:p:122-136. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.