Abstract
Any contribution to economic theory that is not merely repeating slogans must pass through a stage of what Janos Kornai (1971) has called intellectual experiment. Concepts are defined and logical relations between them worked out under the shelter of “other things equal” and “other things remaining the same.” When inconsistencies have been eliminated and implausible assumptions discarded, the next stage is to propose the most promising-looking hypotheses to be confronted with evidence from reality.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Kornai, J. 1971. Anti-equilibrium. Amsterdam: North Holland.
Robinson, J. 1975. “The Unimportance of Reswitching.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 89:32–39. See also Collected Economic Papers, vol 5. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1979.
Samuelson, P. 1962. “Parable and Realism in Capital Theory: The Surrogate Production Function.” Review of Economic Studies 29:193–206.
Samuelson, P. 1966. “A Summing Up.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 80:568–583.
Samuelson, P. 1975. “Steady-State and Transient Relations: A Reply on Reswitching.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 89:40–47.
Sraffa, P., ed. 1951. Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, vol. 1. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Sraffa, P. 1960. Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1982 Kluwer • Nijhoff Publishing
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Robinson, J. (1982). Misunderstandings in the Theory of Production. In: Feiwel, G.R. (eds) Samuelson and Neoclassical Economics. Recent Economic Thought, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7377-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7377-0_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-009-7379-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-7377-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive