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Retrospectives: The Origins of Neoclassical Microeconomics

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  • Robert B. Ekelund Jr
  • Robert F. Hébert

Abstract

Until recently, the standard story line in history of thought textbooks was that a triumvirate of British and Continental writers established demarcation between classical economics and neoclassical economics in the early 1870s. The authors raise two objections to this potted history. The first is that the tools of neoclassical economics were invented earlier. Recent work has demonstrated that the tools of neoclassical analysis were widely available across Europe well before 1870. The notion that neoclassical economics experienced a tripartite immaculate conception around 1870 cannot stand. The second objection is that the method of neoclassical economics was invented later. As it stands, the legend undervalues the key contribution of Alfred Marshall, who put an indelible stamp on neoclassical economics by defining the appropriate method of economic inquiry. When we refer to neoclassical economics today, we usually mean the collection of tools of economic knowledge available to (and invented by) Marshall, channeled and directed into uses dictated by Marshall's view of economic science. Yet as we shall see, Marshall had an eminent predecessor in method as well, in the person of Jules Dupuit.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert B. Ekelund Jr & Robert F. Hébert, 2002. "Retrospectives: The Origins of Neoclassical Microeconomics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 197-215, Summer.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jecper:v:16:y:2002:i:3:p:197-215
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/089533002760278785
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    Cited by:

    1. Poinsot, Philippe, 2016. "Jules Dupuit And The Railroads: What Is The Role Of The State?," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(2), pages 189-209, June.
    2. Joshua Henkel, 2022. "Economics & Biology: The whole is something besides the parts – a complementary approach to a bioeconomy," Bremen Papers on Economics & Innovation 2210, University of Bremen, Faculty of Business Studies and Economics.
    3. Laurent Linnemer, 2022. "Doubling Back on Double Marginalization," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 61(1), pages 1-19, August.
    4. Alexandre Flávio Silva Andrada, 2011. "Uma Breve História Sobre A Abordagem Dedesequilíbrio Na Economia," Anais do XXXVIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 38th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 233, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    5. van 't Klooster, Jens & Assistant, JHET, 2020. "Marginalism and Scope in the Early Methodenstreit," OSF Preprints aq2bz, Center for Open Science.
    6. Sudipta Basu, 2003. "Discussion of Enforceable Accounting Rules and Income Measurement by Early 20th‐Century Railroads," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 433-444, May.
    7. Galeev, A., 2022. "Proto-marginalist approach in Russia: Yuli Zhukovsky's interpretation of Ricardo," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 177-191.
    8. Yann Giraud & Pedro Garcia Duarte, 2014. "Chasing the B: A Bibliographic Account of Economics’ Relation to its Past, 1991-2011," THEMA Working Papers 2014-09, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    9. Mustafa Erdem Ozgur, 2014. "Babbage's Legacy: The Origins of Microeconomics in On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 61(3), pages 322-339, July.
    10. Ingebrigtsen, Stig & Jakobsen, Ove, 2009. "Moral development of the economic actor," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2777-2784, September.

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