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General Equilibrium Theory behind the Iron Curtain: The Case of Victor Polterovich

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  • Ivan Boldyrev
  • Olessia Kirtchik

Abstract

In this article we address the story of developments in general equilibrium theory in the Soviet Union during the 1970s through the lens of a single biography. The Soviet advances in mathematical economics give an occasion to reflect on the extension of the Walrasian paradigm to nonmarket societies, as well as on the ideological effects of general equilibrium theory and its interpretations in a Soviet context. Our contribution is focused on the development of general equilibrium theorizing in the work of Victor Meerovich Polterovich (b. 1937), who has been one of the leading figures in mathematical economics and general equilibrium theory in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. His papers on the abstract models of exchange, dynamic general equilibrium and optimal growth theory, excess demand correspondences, monotonicity of demand functions, and disequilibrium theory were for the most part published in English and gained considerable attention within the field. We reconstruct the political and ideological basis of the general equilibrium concept and show how abstract mathematical models reflected the discursive shift from optimal centralized planning to various forms of decentralization. We argue that the Soviet work on general equilibrium was a part of the global development of mathematical economics but was not integrated into it institutionally.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivan Boldyrev & Olessia Kirtchik, 2014. "General Equilibrium Theory behind the Iron Curtain: The Case of Victor Polterovich," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 46(3), pages 435-461, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:hop:hopeec:v:46:y:2014:i:3:p:435-461
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    1. Soviet general equilibrium theory
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-12-23 20:32:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Kirtchik, Olessia & Boldyrev, Ivan, 2023. "“Rise and Fall” of the Walrasian Program in Economics: A Social and Intellectual Dynamics of the General Equilibrium Theory," SocArXiv er2va, Center for Open Science.
    2. Libman, Alexander & Zweynert, Joachim, 2014. "Ceremonial science: The state of Russian economics seen through the lens of the work of ‘Doctor of Science’ candidates," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 360-378.
    3. Zhao, Zhe & Wang, Pei & Chen, Jiancheng & Zhang, Fan, 2021. "Economic spillover effect of grass-based livestock husbandry on agricultural production—A case study in Hulun Buir, China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Carsten Herrmann-Pillath, 2019. "Power, ideas and culture in the ‘longue durée’ of institutional evolution: theory and application on the revolutions of property rights in Russia," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(5), pages 1483-1506, November.
    5. Alexander A. Maltsev & Vasiliy Sukhih, 2019. "The origins of the Russian economics backwardness: the case of one region [Истоки Отставания Российской Экономической Науки: Случай Одного Региона]," Post-Print hal-04088077, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Victor Polterovich; general equilibrium theory; Soviet Union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B16 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Quantitative and Mathematical
    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics
    • B23 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Econometrics; Quantitative and Mathematical Studies
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals

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