The legacy of Augustin Cournot

James Friedman

Cahiers d'Économie Politique, 2000, vol. 37, issue 1, 31-46

Abstract: [fre] Entendu dans un sens un large, l'héritage de Cournot pour les économistes consiste (i) en ce qu'il a montré comment utiliser de manire générale les mathématiques pour développer des théories économiques, au lieu d'avoir recours des exemples reposant sur des formes fonctionnelles spécifiques, (ii) en ce qu'il a donné un traitement clairet sophistiqué de la demande de marché, du monopole, des marchés concurrentiels et, avant tout, de l'oligopole. Les économistes contemporains se souviennent seulement de Cournot pour sa théorie de l'oligopole. Cependant, il semble avoir eu une grande influence sur Marshall et Walras, ainsi que sur d'autres économistes moins enclins aux mathématiques. [eng] Broadly speaking, Cournot's legacy to economics consists of (i) showing economists how to use mathematics in a general way to develop economic theory, as opposed to using examples based on specific functional forms, (ii) his clear and sophisticated treatment of market demand, monopoly, competitive markets, and above all, oligopoly. Among contemporary economists Cournot is mainly remembered only for his oligopoly theory ; however, he appears to have had a formative influence on Marshall and Walras as well as a lesser influence on later mathematically inclined economists.

Date: 2000
Note: DOI:10.3406/cep.2000.1287
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