On the Cambridge, England, Critique of the Marginal Productivity Theory of Distribution

Geoffrey Harcourt

Review of Radical Political Economics, 2015, vol. 47, issue 2, 243-255

Abstract: The Cambridge critique of the marginal productivity theory of distribution is entwined with the critics’ theories of value, price, distribution, capital, growth, and methodology that occurred alongside it. The article first discusses these dimensions, then the inescapable need to explain the origin and size and rate of profits in any approach to the theory of distribution. The need in the neoclassical approach to have a unit in which to measure capital that is independent of distribution and prices is examined. The alternative classical/Marxian alternative and the relationship of pricing and market structures to systemic relationships in Post-Keynesian theory are analysed. Unresolved debates among the critics of the mainstream are outlined including those between Garegnani and Hahn. Ways forward are suggested in the concluding section.

Keywords: Cambridge critique; marginal productivity theory of distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B1 B10 B2 B20 B40 B5 B51 E1 E10 E11 E12 E13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://rrp.sagepub.com/content/47/2/243.abstract (text/html)

Related works:
Working Paper: On the Cambridge, England, Critique of the Marginal Productivity Theory of Distribution (2014)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:47:y:2015:i:2:p:243-255

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Review of Radical Political Economics from Union for Radical Political Economics
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().