A.-A. Cournot et les fondements théoriques de l''économie industrielle : un éclairage historique

This paper examines the contribution of Cournot?s Researches into the mathe­matical principles of the theory of wealth (1838) to the foundations of industrial economics. It is argued that this contri­bution shall not be presented as the dis­covery of a set of theoretical results linked to partial equilibrium price theory. We support the opposite idea that the contribution of the Researches, far from being direct and univocal, proceeds from a long and complex phenomenon of reinterpretation by later economists. More precisely, it is argued that Cournot hadn?t conceived this study of market structures (monopoly, duopoly, and « unlimited competition ») as general scheme of price theory. Through an examination of the historical context of Cournot?s mathematical model, we try to restore its origi­nal meaning. We show that this model was originally built in order to solve a specific problem related to measurement of value, in a classical ricardian perspective. It is argued, finally, that Cournot?s contribution to industrial economics was much more methodological than theoretical.