Sraffa 1926 and Sraffa 1960: An Attempt to Bridge the Gap

Abstract

In 1926, the young Sraffa seemed ready to engage in a research program on imperfect competition:

Almost any producer …, if he could rely upon the market in which he sells his products being prepared to take any quantity of them from him at the current price, without any trouble on his part except that of producing them, would extend his business enormously … The chief obstacle against which they have to contend when they want gradually to increase their production does not lie in the cost of production — which, indeed generally favours them in that direction — but in the difficulty of selling the larger quantity of goods without reducing the price, or without having to face increased marketing expenses (Sraffa 1926, p. 543)