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Capital as a Single Magnitude and the Orthodox Theory of Distribution in Some Writings of the Early 1930s

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  • Paolo Trabucchi

Abstract

Some writings of the early 1930s by Dennis Robertson and John Hicks present, with a clarity not easily found elsewhere, the reasons why marginalist economists, who until recent decades normally treated capital as a single magnitude, were in fact compelled to do so. This paper focuses on a first reason that emerges from these writings: namely the fact that only this treatment of capital can lend plausibility to the notion of substitutability between factors of production on which the orthodox theory of distribution is built.

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  • Paolo Trabucchi, 2011. "Capital as a Single Magnitude and the Orthodox Theory of Distribution in Some Writings of the Early 1930s," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 169-188, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:23:y:2011:i:2:p:169-188
    DOI: 10.1080/09538259.2011.561550
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mill, John Stuart, 1848. "Principles of Political Economy (II): Distribution," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, volume 2, number mill1848-2.
    2. Burmeister,Edwin, 1980. "Capital Theory and Dynamics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521297035, September.
    3. Bliss, C. J., 1975. "Capital Theory and the Distribution of Income," Elsevier Monographs, Elsevier, edition 1, number 9780720436044 edited by Bliss, C. J..
    4. Mill, John Stuart, 1848. "Principles of Political Economy (III): Exchange," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, volume 3, number mill1848-3.
    5. Mill, John Stuart, 1848. "Principles of Political Economy (I): Production," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, volume 1, number mill1848-1.
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    Cited by:

    1. Saverio M. Fratini, 2013. "Malinvaud on Wicksell’s Legacy to Capital Theory: Some Critical Remarks," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Enrico Sergio Levrero & Antonella Palumbo & Antonella Stirati (ed.), Sraffa and the Reconstruction of Economic Theory: Volume One, chapter 5, pages 105-128, Palgrave Macmillan.
    2. Dvoskin, Ariel & Fratini, Saverio M., 2015. "On the Samuelson-Etula Master Function and Marginal Productivity: some old and new critical remarks," MPRA Paper 63415, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Ariel Dvoskin & Saverio M. Fratini, 2016. "On the Samuelson–Etula Master Function and the capital controversy," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(6), pages 1032-1058, November.
    4. Saverio M. Fratini, 2019. "Neoclassical theories of stationary relative prices and the supply of capital," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 723-737, November.

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