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On the Origins of Piero Sraffa’s Equations. New Evidence Following Pierangelo Garegnani’s Lead

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  • Naldi, Nerio

    (La Sapienza University of Rome)

Abstract

The paper investigates the origins of the equations which form the structure of Piero Sraffa’s Production of Commodities by means of Commodities. Following an interpretation first developed by Pierangelo Garegnani in a paper that highlighted the importance of a manuscript headed ‘Notes Lon-don, Summer 1927 (Physical Real Costs etc.)’, we single out new evidence relevant to the reconstruction of the path which led Sraffa to conceive his equations. In particular, we stress how Sraffa came to pay special attention to the case of a subsistence economy (‘a community that produces just what is sufficient to keep it going’) and how this led him to shift his attention from the idea of reducing heterogeneous physical costs to an ‘absolutely necessary commodity’ to the determination of exchange ratios by the solution of systems of simultaneous equations.

Suggested Citation

  • Naldi, Nerio, 2018. "On the Origins of Piero Sraffa’s Equations. New Evidence Following Pierangelo Garegnani’s Lead," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP33, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:sraffa:0033
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Maria Cristina Marcuzzo, 2005. "Piero Sraffa at the university of Cambridge," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 425-452.
    2. Roberto Marchionatti, 2019. "Between Berlin and Cambridge: classical conceptions of the general economic equilibrium in the late 1920s," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 43(5), pages 1377-1395.
    3. Nerio Naldi, 2005. "Piero Sraffa: emigration and scientific activity (1921 - 45)," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 379-402.
    4. Nerio Naldi, 2000. "The friendship between Piero Sraffa and Antonio Gramsci in the years 1919-1927," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 79-114.
    5. Giancarlo de Vivo & Giorgio Gilibert, 2013. "On Sraffa and Marx: a Comment," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(6), pages 1443-1447.
    6. Kurz, Heinz D., 2006. "The agents of production are the commodities themselves: On the classical theory of production, distribution and value," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 1-26, January.
    7. Ajit Sinha, 2016. "A Revolution in Economic Theory," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-319-30616-2, September.
    8. Christian Gehrke & Heinz D. Kurz, 2018. "Sraffa’s Constructive and Interpretive Work, and Marx," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 428-442, July.
    9. Leontief, Wassily, 1991. "The economy as a circular flow," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 181-212, June.
    10. Heinz Kurz & Neri Salvadori, 2005. "Representing the production and circulation of commodities in material terms: On Sraffa's objectivism," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 413-441.
    11. Heinz D. Kurz, 2012. "Don't treat too ill my Piero! Interpreting Sraffa's papers," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 36(6), pages 1535-1569.
    12. Christian Gehrke & Heinz D. Kurz, 2006. "Sraffa on von Bortkiewicz: Reconstructing the Classical Theory of Value and Distribution," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 91-149, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Saverio M. Fratini, 2018. "Theories of Value and Ultimate Standards in Sraffa’s Notes of Summer 1927," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 12(1-2), pages 35-53, June.
    2. Fratini, Saverio M., 2019. "Theories of value and ultimate standards in Sraffa's notes of summer 1927," MPRA Paper 91728, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Trezzini, Attilio, 2019. "Sraffa on Marshall's Theory of Value in the Cambridge Lectures: Achievements in an Unfinished Criticism," Centro Sraffa Working Papers CSWP34, Centro di Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa".

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sraffa; Piero Sraffa Papers; Production of Commodities; costs; relative prices;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B24 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist; Scraffian
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • B51 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Socialist; Marxian; Sraffian

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