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Joan Robinson: classical revivalist or neoclassical critic?

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  • Harvey Gram

Abstract

The capital controversy began with Joan Robinson's famous critique of the aggregate production function. She chose to include only the 'negative' part in the second volume of her Collected Economic Papers. The 'constructive' part, which had attracted so much attention in subsequent discussions of reswitching and reverse capital deepening, was peripheral to her concern with the role of realized expectations in neoclassical theory. The splitting of her famous paper into two parts raises a question. In the context of the capital controversy, should Joan Robinson be remembered as a classical economist in modern dress, or should she be remembered mainly as a critic of neoclassical theory?

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  • Harvey Gram, 2003. "Joan Robinson: classical revivalist or neoclassical critic?," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 493-508.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:15:y:2003:i:4:p:493-508
    DOI: 10.1080/0953825032000121441
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