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The influence of Tidology and Astronomy in Alfred Marshall’s economics: a reassessment of his economic method for the analysis of periodic and secular variations

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  • Naoki Matsuyama

    (University of Hyogo)

Abstract

Alfred Marshall explored a scientific method for theorising complex economic phenomena using mechanical and biological analogies. Moreover from his very first book The Economics of Industry Marshall paid attention to the efficacy of a science of tendencies to understand real economic movements. To clarify this, this paper begins by reviewing a methodological problem suggested by Thorstein Veblen, concerning which of Marshall’s economics should be regarded as ‘quasi-evolutionary’. Critically Veblen considered Marshall’s approach to economic progress could not avoid assumptions of a natural law and normality, even though Marshall analyzed the tendency of economic change produced over the ultra-long-term. However, we focus on the approaches Marshall found most convincing, which were based on eighteenth and nineteenth century scientific methods proposed by Cournot, John Herschel, and William Whewell. We examine the methodological significance derived from the analogies of astronomy and tidology over the secular term. Specifically, Marshall investigated the analysis of wages as a science of tendencies to realise fair wages through conciliation, where the influence of time, region, and custom were considered. Therefore, this article demonstrates how Marshall applied a non-Newtonian method based on tidology to the study of secular movements in economic society to develop his understanding of the organic growth of economy scientifically.

Suggested Citation

  • Naoki Matsuyama, 2021. "The influence of Tidology and Astronomy in Alfred Marshall’s economics: a reassessment of his economic method for the analysis of periodic and secular variations," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 549-567, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eaiere:v:18:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s40844-021-00214-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s40844-021-00214-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J. Stanley Metcalfe, 2007. "Alfred Marshall and the General Theory of Evolutionary Economics," History of Economic Ideas, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa - Roma, vol. 15(1), pages 81-110.
    2. Cook,Simon J., 2009. "The Intellectual Foundations of Alfred Marshall's Economic Science," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521760089, June.
    3. Neil Hart, 2012. "Equilibrium and Evolution," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-36117-1, May.
    4. Kenichi Yamamoto & Susumu Egashira, 2012. "Marshall's organic growth theory," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 227-248, March.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Composite quasi-rent; Continuity; Fair wages; Organic growth theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B13 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Neoclassical through 1925 (Austrian, Marshallian, Walrasian, Wicksellian)
    • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary
    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology

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