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The Origins of the Von Thunen-Mill-Pareto-Wicksell-Cobb-Douglas Function

Author

Listed:
  • Lloyd, P.J.

Abstract

This paper traces the discovery of the Cobb-Douglas function. There were four antecedents to Cobb and Douglas; von Thunen, Mill, Pareto and Wicksell. The demand functions specified by Mill and Pareto implied the Cobb-Douglas utility function and von Thunen and Wicksell stated the Cobb-Douglas production function explicitly. This paper comments on why this function has played a seminal role in production and utility theory and why it has been discovered independently by several authors.

Suggested Citation

  • Lloyd, P.J., 1998. "The Origins of the Von Thunen-Mill-Pareto-Wicksell-Cobb-Douglas Function," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 660, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:mlb:wpaper:660
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    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. 11 things you may not have known about economics
      by Chris Blattman in Chris Blattman on 2011-02-25 21:12:04

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    Cited by:

    1. Michal Fabinger & E. Glen Weyl, 2018. "Functional Forms for Tractable Economic Models and the Cost Structure of International Trade," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1092, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    2. Michal Fabinger & E. Glen Weyl, 2016. "The Average-Marginal Relationship and Tractable Equilibrium Forms," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1028, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    3. Paul E. Brockway & Harry Saunders & Matthew K. Heun & Timothy J. Foxon & Julia K. Steinberger & John R. Barrett & Steve Sorrell, 2017. "Energy Rebound as a Potential Threat to a Low-Carbon Future: Findings from a New Exergy-Based National-Level Rebound Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, January.
    4. Voorneveld, Mark, 2008. "From preferences to Cobb-Douglas utility," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 701, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 27 Oct 2008.
    5. Michal Fabinger & E. Glen Weyl, 2016. "Functional Forms for Tractable Economic Models and the Cost Structure of International Trade," Papers 1611.02270, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2018.
    6. Matthew K. Heun & João Santos & Paul E. Brockway & Randall Pruim & Tiago Domingos & Marco Sakai, 2017. "From Theory to Econometrics to Energy Policy: Cautionary Tales for Policymaking Using Aggregate Production Functions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-44, February.
    7. Terheggen, Anne, 2010. "The new kid in the forest: the impact of China's resource demand on Gabon's tropical timber value chain," MPRA Paper 37982, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Van Bavel, Bas & Ansink, Erik & Van Besouw, Bram, 2017. "Understanding the economics of limited access orders: incentives, organizations and the chronology of developments," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 109-131, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS ; CONSUMPTION ; UTILITY FUNCTION ; MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C60 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - General
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity

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