IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v71y2009i2p495-501.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sraffa's system: Equal rate of profits and the notion of center of gravitation

Author

Listed:
  • Sinha, Ajit
  • Dupertuis, Michel-Stéphane

Abstract

This paper argues that the condition of uniform rate of profits in Sraffa's system is not based on his implicit assumption that the system is at the 'equilibrium' or the center of gravitation. It is rather a logical requirement of a reproducing system of basic goods as long as prices are not imposed from outside the system. This condition holds irrespective of supplies being equal to their respective effectual demands. It conjectures that Sraffa could have arrived at this conclusion through his analysis of the Standard system. On the basis of this result, a critique of the received interpretation, led by Garegnani, of Sraffa's prices is developed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sinha, Ajit & Dupertuis, Michel-Stéphane, 2009. "Sraffa's system: Equal rate of profits and the notion of center of gravitation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 495-501, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:71:y:2009:i:2:p:495-501
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167-2681(09)00081-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samuels Warren J., 2000. "Reply to Norman Barry," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2-3), pages 1-4, June.
    2. anonymous, 1990. "Proposed revision to staff commentary," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), issue Jan, pages 15-16.
    3. Pierangelo Garegnani, 2005. "On a turning point in Sraffa's theoretical and interpretative position in the late 1920s," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 453-492.
    4. Samuelson, Paul A. & Etula, Erkko M., 2006. "Testing to confirm that Leontief-Sraffa matrix equations for input/output must obey constancy of returns to scale," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 183-188, February.
    5. anonymous, 1990. "Comment period extended to October 14, 1990," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), issue Nov, pages 931-931.
    6. Garegnani, Pierangelo, 1984. "Value and Distribution in the Classical Economists and Marx," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(2), pages 291-325, June.
    7. Pierangelo Garegnani, 1998. "Sraffa: the theoretical world of the 'old classical economists'," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(3), pages 415-429.
    8. Steedman, Ian, 1984. "Natural Prices, Differential Profit Rates and the Classical Competitive Process," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, vol. 52(2), pages 123-140, June.
    9. Hahn, Frank, 1982. "The Neo-Ricardians," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 6(4), pages 353-374, December.
    10. Joan Robinson, 1961. "Prelude To A Critique Of Economic Theory," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 53-58.
    11. Ajit Sinha, 2007. "Sraffa and the Assumption of Constant Returns to Scale: A Critique of Samuelson and Etula," Contributions to Political Economy, Oxford University Press, vol. 26(1), pages 61-70.
    12. Ajit SINHA & Michel-Stéphane DUPERTUIS, 2009. "Sraffa And The Question Of Equilibrium," Cahiers d’économie politique / Papers in Political Economy, L'Harmattan, issue 56, pages 91-100, January -.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bossone, Biagio, 2021. "Commercial bank seigniorage and the macroeconomy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Saverio M. Fratini & Alessia Naccarato, 2016. "The Gravitation of Market Prices as A Stochastic Process," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(4), pages 698-716, November.
    3. Biagio Bossone, 2021. "Bank Seigniorage in a Monetary Production Economy," Working Papers PKWP2111, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ajit Sinha & Michel-Stéphane Dupertuis, 2009. "Sraffa's System: Equal Rate of Profits and the Notion of Centre of Gravitation," Post-Print hal-00683159, HAL.
    2. Nadeem Naqvi, 2011. "Demystifying Sraffa’s Theory of Value in the Light of Arrow and Debreu," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201150, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    3. Ajit Sinha, 2015. "A Reflection on the Samuelson-Garegnani Debate," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 4(2), pages 1-48, September.
    4. Neri Salvadori & Rodolfo Signorino, 2013. "The Classical Notion of Competition Revisited," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 45(1), pages 149-175, Spring.
    5. Cavalieri, Duccio, 2015. "Structural interdependence in monetary economics: theoretical assessment and policy implications," MPRA Paper 65526, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Saverio M. Fratini, 2020. "Interest, profit and saving in Arrow-Debreu equilibrium models," Bulletin of Political Economy, Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 14(1), pages 39-53, June.
    7. Duccio Cavalieri, 2009. "Sull'inseparabilit? delle strutture sintattiche nell'analisi classica del valore e della distribuzione," STUDI ECONOMICI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(97), pages 5-46.
    8. Naqvi, Nadeem, 2011. "On two theories of value and distribution," MPRA Paper 35312, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Saverio M. Fratini & Alessia Naccarato, 2016. "The Gravitation of Market Prices as A Stochastic Process," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(4), pages 698-716, November.
    10. Kurose, Kazuhiro & Yoshihara, Naoki, 2019. "On the Ricardian invariable measure of value in general convex economies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 539-549.
    11. G. C. Harcourt, 2013. "Ronald Meek's “Magnificent” Review Article of Piero Sraffa's 1960 Classic: Top Hit in Decade 1954–63 in the Scottish Journal of Political Economy," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 60(5), pages 478-480, November.
    12. Rossi, Enrico, 2020. "Reconsidering the dual nature of property rights: personal property and capital in the law and economics of property rights," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 105840, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Bellino, Enrico & Nerozzi, Sebastiano, 2013. "Causality and interdependence in Pasinetti's works and in the modern classical approach," MPRA Paper 52179, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Edgar Villa, 2013. "Una Revisión Moderna de las Teorías de Precios de Ricardo y Jevons," Vniversitas Económica 10676, Universidad Javeriana - Bogotá.
    15. Arena, Richard, 1992. "Une synthèse entre post-keynésiens et néo-ricardiens est-elle encore possible?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 68(4), pages 587-606, décembre.
    16. Sergio Cesaratto, 2012. "Controversial and novel features of the Eurozone crisis as a balance of payment crisis," Department of Economics University of Siena 640, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    17. Giovanni Dosi & Andrea Roventini, 2017. "Agent-Based Macroeconomics and Classical Political Economy: Some Italian Roots," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(3), pages 261-283, November.
    18. Luis Daniel Torres-González, 2020. "The Characteristics of the Productive Structure Behind the Empirical Regularities in Production Prices Curves," Working Papers 2016, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    19. José Felix Catano, 1996. "¿Un defecto en la mercancía patrón de Sraffa?," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, June.
    20. Heinz D. Kurz, 2011. "The Contributions of Two Eminent Japanese Scholars to the Development of Economic Theory: Michio Morishima and Takashi Negishi," Chapters, in: Heinz D. Kurz & Tamotsu Nishizawa & Keith Tribe (ed.), The Dissemination of Economic Ideas, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:71:y:2009:i:2:p:495-501. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.