Did François Perroux Revise the Theory of General Economic Equilibrium?

Richard Arena

A chapter in Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology: Including a Symposium on the Work of François Perroux, 2022, vol. 40C, pp 127-143 from Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Abstract: The purpose of this contribution is the investigation and the assessment of François Perroux’s book –Unités Actives et Mathématiques Nouvelles – Révision de la théorie de l’équilibre économique général(Perroux, 1975a) – in connection with the research program he initiated before and during the Second World War. Concerning the analytical relevance of this book there is no consensus. According to some economists it has to be considered as the masterpiece of Perroux’s intellectual project which provides an alternative approach to the usual theory of general economic equilibrium (GEE). Others think that today the book is almost entirely forgotten and it does not help really to improve Perroux’s general research project. We try to set here our own view combining two ways of proceeding in the investigation about the relevance of the book. The first one develops an analysis ofUnités Activesas dispassionate as possible, avoiding taking into account the personality as well as the social and political views of François Perroux. The second favors a retrospective approach relating the 1975 book to the previous contributions of the author. The first three sections of our contribution are dedicated to Perroux’s contributions written before his attempt to “revise” the usual version of the GEE theory. The five following sections are devoted to the direct contents of the “revision” of this theory and tries to propose a global assessment of it.

Keywords: history of economic thought since 1925; history of economic thought; individuals-Economic methodology; general economic equilibrium approach; related disciplines; current heterodox approaches; François Perroux (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:rhetzz:s0743-41542022000040c007

DOI: 10.1108/S0743-41542022000040C007

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