Building comparison spaces: Harold Hotelling and mathematics for economics

Marion Gaspard and Thomas Mueller

Journal of Economic Methodology, 2021, vol. 28, issue 3, 255-273

Abstract: Harold Hotelling’s (1895–1973) articles in mathematical economics from the 1930s are classics. Some are keystones of entire sub-disciplines of economic theory such as location economics [Hotelling (1929). Stability in competition. The Economic Journal, 39(153), 41–57] and natural resource economics [Hotelling (1931). Review of Review of mathematical introduction to economics, by Griffith C. Evans. The American Mathematical Monthly, 38(2), 101–103. https://doi.org/10.2307/2301858]; others are associated with significant theoretical results [Hotelling (1932). Edgeworth’s Taxation Paradox and the Nature of Demand and Supply functions. Journal of Political Economy, 40(5), 577–616; (1938). The general welfare in relation to Problems of Taxation and of Railway and Utility rates. Econometrica, 6(3), 242–269]. Yet, Hotelling’s place in the rising of mathematical economics is mostly a black hole in the history of economic thought. The present paper aims to provide a better understanding of Hotelling’s part in the history of mathematical economics. Using published as well as archival materials, it traces Hotelling’s itinerary in mathematical economics, observes Hotelling using mathematics and scrutinizes Hotelling’s methodological writings to capture the meaning of his models and concepts, in particular his concept of utility as a monetary surplus.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/1350178X.2021.1936597 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: Building Comparison Spaces: Harold Hotelling and Mathematics for Economics (2021)
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:taf:jecmet:v:28:y:2021:i:3:p:255-273

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RJEC20

DOI: 10.1080/1350178X.2021.1936597

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Methodology is currently edited by John Davis and D Wade Hands

More articles in Journal of Economic Methodology from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().