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Alfred Marshall's Mecca: Reconciling the Theories of Value and Development

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  • J. STANLEY METCALFE
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolutionary nature and content of Marshall's theory of value and the relation it bears to his theory of growth and development. In Marshall's work the two theories are inextricably linked, and the subsequent attempt to separate them has not only marginalised Marshall's rich analysis but also made it impossible to appreciate the role he gave to innovation, and its corollary the growth of knowledge and organisation, in the workings of a market economy. At its core is the relation between the growth of firms and the growth of markets, but this is not steady‐state growth theory; rather, it is the different, mutually determined and ever changing growth rates of different groups of firms that is at the centre of attention. Quite how variation is linked to progress is the central topic of this essay, and the elucidation of its central role necessarily means that we must resurrect the representative firm. We conclude that Marshall was correct in stating that ‘the tendency to variation is a chief source of progress’ (Principles, V, 4, p. 355). We develop a set of evolutionary tools to show how and why this is so. But evolution is more than variation; it requires the organisation of firms and the market process to generate that correlation between differential knowledge and economic advance. Most importantly of all, the concept of a representative firm is re‐established as an indispensable element in a Marshallian evolutionary analysis.

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  • J. Stanley Metcalfe, 2007. "Alfred Marshall's Mecca: Reconciling the Theories of Value and Development," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 83(s1), pages 1-22, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:83:y:2007:i:s1:p:s1-s22
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2007.00411.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Neil Hart, 2003. "Marshall’s Dilemma: Equilibrium versus Evolution," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 1139-1160, December.
    2. Metcalfe, J S, 1994. "Competition, Fisher's Principle and Increasing Returns in the Selection Process," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 327-346, November.
    3. Loasby, Brian J, 1978. "Whatever Happened to Marshall's Theory of Value," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 25(1), pages 1-12, February.
    4. 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.
    5. Ragnar Frisch, 1950. "Alfred Marshall's Theory of Value," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 64(4), pages 495-524.
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    Cited by:

    1. Coad, Alex, 2010. "Neoclassical vs evolutionary theories of financial constraints: Critique and prospectus," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 206-218, August.
    2. Antonelli, Cristiano & Amidei, Federico Barbiellini & Fassio, Claudio, 2014. "The mechanisms of knowledge governance: State owned enterprises and Italian economic growth, 1950–1994," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 43-63.
    3. Krume Nikoloski, 2016. "Neoclassical Economics: Some Marshallian Insights," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 4, pages 85-90, August.
    4. Harry Bloch, 2016. "Prices In Motion: Towards A Schumpeterian Price Theory," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(4), pages 742-767, November.
    5. Landoni, Matteo, 2020. "Knowledge creation in state-owned enterprises," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 77-85.
    6. Alex Coad & Werner Hölzl, 2012. "Firm Growth: Empirical Analysis," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Robert, Verónica & Yoguel, Gabriel, 2016. "Complexity paths in neo-Schumpeterian evolutionary economics, structural change and development policies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 3-14.
    8. Harry Bloch, 2022. "The language of pluralism from the history of the theory of price determination: Natural price, equilibrium price and administered price," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(4), pages 1094-1111, November.
    9. Pier Luigi Sacco & Guido Ferilli & Giorgio Tavano Blessi & Massimiliano Nuccio, 2013. "Culture as an Engine of Local Development Processes: System-Wide Cultural Districts I: Theory," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 555-570, December.
    10. Verónica Robert & Gabriel Yoguel, 2011. "The Complex Dynamics of Economic Development," Chapters, in: Cristiano Antonelli (ed.), Handbook on the Economic Complexity of Technological Change, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Brendan Markey‐Towler, 2019. "The New Microeconomics: A Psychological, Institutional, and Evolutionary Paradigm with Neoclassical Economics as a Special Case," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 78(1), pages 95-135, January.
    12. Antonelli Cristiano & Ferraris Gianluigi, 2012. "Endogenous knowledge externalities: an agent based simulation model where schumpeter meets Marshall," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201202, University of Turin.
    13. Mario Benassi & Matteo Landoni, 2019. "State-owned enterprises as knowledge-explorer agents," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 218-241, February.
    14. Brendan Markey-Towler, 2016. "Law of the jungle: firm survival and price dynamics in evolutionary markets," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 655-696, July.
    15. Cristiano Antonelli, 2013. "Knowledge Governance," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 27(1), pages 62-70, February.

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