Prices, Reproduction, Scarcity

by Christian Bidard

• ISBN13: 9780521472838
• ISBN10: 0521472830
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-05-20
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In this definitive and exhaustive study, Christian Bidard develops a theory of prices of production. This theory, of classical inspiration, breaks down the symmetry between producers and consumers and gives more importance to reproduction rather than scarcity. In his analysis of multiple-product systems, Bidard focuses on the notion of an all-engaging system which elucidates the link with von Neumann's theory; examines the notions of sector and vertical integration which make possible an elegant treatment of fixed capital; clarifies the status of the internal rate of return; proposes a general theory of rent. In the discussion of capital theory and marginal equalities or, more specifically, the treatment of exhaustible resources, Bidard compares and contrasts different readings of Sraffa's work and revisits the question of relationships between classical theory (Smith, Ricardo, Marx) and the general equilibrium theory (Walras, Arrow, Debreu).

Table of Contents

Part I. Single Production: 1. Principles

2. The corn model

3. A two-commodity economy

4. A basic multisector economy

5. Non-basic economies

6. Relative prices

7. Ricardo's theory of value

8. The labor value

9. Choice of technique

Part II. Joint Production: 10. Joint production: a theoretical object

11. Paradoxes and tools

12. Engaging systems

13. From von Neumann to Sraffa

14. The notion of a sector

15. Austrian and one-machine models

16. Fixed capital theory

17. Rent theory

Part III. Questions of Method: 18. An agenda

19. A Sraffian theory of choice of technique

20. The structure of general equilibrium

21. The marginal equalities

22. Intertemporal models and prices of production

23. Long-term prices and exhaustible resources

24. An overview

Mathematical Appendix: elements of combinatorial geometry.