Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T19:46:33.187Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Alfred Marshall's Idea of Progress and Sustainable Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2009

Katia Caldari
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Padua, Italy.

Extract

For a long time, Marshall's chief contribution to economic science was considered to be Book V of Principles of Economics, which is the “analytic core” of his thought. Book V, “General Relations of Demand, Supply and Value,” deals with the important theme of economic equilibrium that ipso facto rules out any possibility of coping with economic development. When Alfred Marshall describes Book V, he points out that “it is not descriptive, nor does it deal constructively with real problems. But it sets out the theoretical backbone of our knowledge of the causes that govern value” (1961, vol. 1, p. 324); in short, it “deals with abstractions” (1898, p. 52). The existence of Book V has been supposed by some scholars to be sound enough proof that Alfred Marshall was not interested in the question of economic development. More recently, however, it has been suggested that one of the main Marshallian concerns was economic development,—“the high theme of economic progress,” as he called it (Marshall 1961, vol. 1, p. 461).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Arena, R. & Quéré, M., eds, 2003. The Economics of Alfred Marshall: Revisiting Marshall's Legacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayres, R. U. 2001. “Resources, Scarcity, Growth and the Environment.” Center for the Management of Environmental Resources, INSEAD, Boulevard de Constance, France.Google Scholar
Backhouse, R. E. & Creedy, J., eds, 1999. From Classical Economics to the Theory of the Firm. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Becattini, G. 2000. “Marshallian Anomalies.” In Marshall Studies Bulletin (1), English translation of “Anomalie Marshalliane,” in Rivista Italiana degli Economisti (1).Google Scholar
Blaug, M. 1996. Economic Theory in Retrospect, 5th edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bowman, R. S. 1990. “Smith, Mill, and Marshall on Human Capital Formation.” History of Political Economy 22 (2): 239–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldari, K. 2000. “Marshall's Bound Collection of Essays” (Part 1), Marshall Studies Bulletin, Vol. 7. Available at: http://www.cce.unifi.it/dse/marshall/welcome.htm.Google Scholar
Caldari, K. 2003. “A List of the Essays Collected in Bound Volumes by Alfred Marshall: Part 2.” In Marshall Studies Bulletin, Vol. 7. Available at: http://www.cce.unifi.it/dse/marshall/welcome.htm.Google Scholar
Chasse, J. D. 1984. “Marshall, the Human Agent and Economic Growth: Wants and Activities Revisited.” History of Political Economy 16 (3): 381404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chenery, H. & Srinivasan, T. N., eds, 1988. Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. 1. Amsterdam and Oxford: North-Holland.Google Scholar
Cherry, G. E. 1974. The Evolution of British Town Planning. London: Leonard Hill Books.Google Scholar
Collard, D. 1996. “Pigou and Future Generations: A Cambridge Tradition.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 20 (5): 585–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collard, D. 1999. “The Generational Contract in Classical and Neoclassical Economic Thought.” In Backhouse, R. & Creedy, J., eds, From Classical Economics to the Theory of the Firm. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 139–53.Google Scholar
Daly, H. E. 1996. Beyond Growth: the Economics of Sustainable Development. Boston, MA: Beacon.Google Scholar
Dardi, M. 2000. “Alfred Marshall's Partial Equilibrium: Dynamics in Disguise.” In Arena, R. & Quére, M., eds, The Economics of Alfred Marshall: Revisiting Marshall's Legacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Darwin, C. 1872. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, 6th edition. London: Murray, 1859.Google Scholar
Dow, S. C. & Earle, P. E., eds, 1999. Economic Organization and Economic Knowledge: Essays in Honour of Brian Loasby, Vol. 1. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Foss, N. J., ed., 2000. The Theory of the Firm: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management, 4 vols. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Glaeser, E. L. 1999. “Learning in Cities.” Journal of Urban Economics, 46 (2): 254–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, S. & Marvin, S. 2001. Splintering Urbanism. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Groenewegen, P., ed., 1995. Official Papers of Alfred Marshall: A Supplement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Groenewegen, P. 1996. Official Papers of Alfred Marshall: A Supplement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Groenewegen, P. 1999. “Perfect Competition, Equilibrium and Economic Progress: That Wretched Division of Labour and Increasing Returns.” In Dow, S. C. & Earl, P. E., eds, Economic Organization and Economic Knowledge: Essays in Honour of Brian Loasby, Vol. 1. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 225–38.Google Scholar
Groenewegen, P. 2001. “The Evolutionary Economics of Alfred Marshall: An Overview.” In Laurent, J. & Nightingale, J., eds, Darwinism and Evolutionary Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Hirsch, F. 1977. Social Limits to Growth. London: Henley.Google Scholar
Hodgson, G. M. 1993. Economics and Evolution: Bringing Life Back into Economics. Cambridge: Polity Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, E. 1898. Garden Cities of To-Morrow. London: Swan. Sonnenschein.Google Scholar
Industrial Remuneration Conference. 1885. The Report of the Proceedings and Papers at the Prince's Hall, Piccadilly. London: Cassell & Company.Google Scholar
Jevons, W. S. 1865. The Coal Question: An Inquiry Concerning the Progress of the Nation, and Probable Exhaustion of our Coal Mines. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Loasby, B. 1986. “Marshall's Economics of Progress.” Journal of Economic Studies 13 (5): 1626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loasby, B. 1989. The Mindand the Method of the Economist: A Critical Appraisal of Major Economists in the Twentieth Century. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Loasby, B. 1999. Knowledge, Institutions and Evolution in Economics. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Loasby, B. 2000a. “Organisational Capabilities and Interfirm Relations.” In Foss, N. J., ed., The Theory of the Firm: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management, 4 vols. London: Routledge, pp. 288303.Google Scholar
Loasby, B. 2000b. “Efficiency and Time.” In Arena, R. & Quére, M., eds, The Economics of Alfred Marshall: Revisiting Marshall's Legacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.Google Scholar
Malthus, T. R. (1798) An Essay on the Principle of Population, as it Affects the Future Improvement of Society, with Remarks on the Speculations of Mr Godwin M. Condorcet, and other Writers. London: Johnson and London: Macmillan, 1926.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. & Paley, M. M. 1879. The Economics of Industry. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1873a. “The Future of the Working Classes.” In Raffaelli, T., Tullberg, R. MacWilliams & Biagini, E., eds, Lectures to Women. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1995, pp. 156–75.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1873b. “Lectures to Women.” In R. Tiziano, R. McWilliams Tullberg & E. Biagini, eds, 1995, pp. 85132.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1879. “Water as an Element of National Wealth.” In Pigou, A. C., ed., Memorials of Alfred Marshall. London: Macmillan, 1925, pp. 134–41.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1884. “Where to House the London Poor.” The Contemporary Review. In Pigou, A. C., ed., Memorials of Alfred Marshall. London: Macmillan, 1925, pp. 142–51.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1885a. “The Present Position of Economics.” In Pigou, A. C., ed., Memorials of Alfred Marshall. London: Macmillan, 1925, pp. 152–74.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1885b. “How Far Do Remediable Causes Influence Prejudicially (a) the Continuity of Employment, (b) the Rates of Wages? Industrial Remuneration Conference.” The Report of the Proceedings and Papers at the Prince's Hall, Piccadilly. London: Cassell & Company, 1885, pp. 173–99.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1887. “A Fair Rate of Wages.” In Pigou, A. C., ed., Memorials of Alfred Marshall. London: Macmillan, 1925, pp. 212–26.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1888. “Wages and Profits.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 2 (2): 218–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, A. 1889. “Co-operation.” In Pigou, A. C., ed., Memorials of Alfred Marshall, edited by Pigou, A. C.. London: Macmillan, 1925, pp. 227–55.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1890a. Principles of Economics. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1890b. “Some Aspects of Competition.” In Pigou, A. C., ed., Memorials of Alfred Marshall. London: Macmillan, 1925, pp. 256–91.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1892a. “Poor-Law Reform.” Economic Journal 2 (6): 371–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, A. (1892b). The Poor Law in Relation to the State-Aided Pensions.” Economic Journal 2 (5): 186–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, A. 1892c. “Reply.” The Economic Journal 2 (7): 507–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, A. 1898. “Distribution and Exchange.” Economic Journal 8 (29): 3759.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, A. 1907. “Social Possibilities of Economic Chivalry.” The Economic Journal. In Pigou, A. C., ed., Memorials of Alfred Marshall. London: Macmillan, 1925, pp. 323–46.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1919. Industry and Trade. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1923. Money Credit and Commerce. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. 1926. Official Papers by Alfred Marshall, edited by Keynes, J. M.. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Marshall, A. (1961). Principles of Economics, Variorum Edition, 2 vols., Guillebaud, Claude W., ed., London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Meadows, D. H. et al. , 1972. The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome's Project on the Predicament of Mankind. London: Earth Island.Google Scholar
O'Brien, D. P. 1981. “A. Marshall, 1842–1924.” In O'Brien, D. P. & Presley, John Ralph, eds, Pioneers of Modern Economics in Britain. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, D. P. & Presley, J. R., eds, 1981. Pioneers of Modern Economics in Britain. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pigou, A. C. 1924. Economics of Welfare. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Pigou, A. C., ed., 1925. Memorials of Alfred Marshall. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Raffaelli, T. 2003. Marshall's Evolutionary Economics. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raffaelli, T., MacWilliams Tullberg, R. & Biagini, E., eds, 1995. Lectures to Women. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Reisman, D. 1987. Alfred Marshall: Progress and Politics. London: Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robbins, L. 1932. An Essay on the Nature & Significance of Economic Science. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Sen, A. K. 1988. “The Concept of Development.” In Chenery, H. & Srinivasan, T. N., eds, Handbook of Development Economics, Vol. 1. Amsterdam and Oxford: North-Holland, pp. 926.Google Scholar
Smith, G. A. 1982. “Natural Resource Economic Theory During the First Conservation Movement (1895–1927).” History of Political Economy 14 (4): 483–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solow, R. M. 1974. “The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics”. American Economic Review 64 (2): 114.Google Scholar
Stigler, G. J. 1941. Production and Distribution Theories. New York: Agathon Press.Google Scholar
Tahvonen, O. 2000. Economic Sustainability and Scarcity of Natural Resources: A Brief Historical Review, Washington D.C.: Resources for the Future.Google Scholar
Veblen, T. B. 1919. The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays. New York: The Viking Press.Google Scholar
Whitaker, J. K. 1975. The Early Economic Writings of Alfred Marshall, 1867–1890, 2 vols. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Whitaker, J. K. 1996. The Correspondence of Alfred Marshall, Economist, 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Whitaker, J. K. 2001. “Henry George and Classical Growth Theory: A Significant Contribution to Modeling Scale Economies.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 60 (1): 1124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar