Economic Essays on Value, Competition and Utility

This text is a translation of the "Economic Essays" of V.K. Dmitriev, published between 1898 and 1902. An early Russian mathematical economist, Dmitriev anticipated and rigorously formulated a number of modern techiques and propositions which are an essential part of modern economic thinking. These range from the foundations of input-output analysis to the determination of labour values and price of production and theorems by Samuelson and Straffa. His work has had a considerable influence on Soviet planning practices. Professor Nuti's introduction to the translation sets out the relevance of the book to recent developments in the theory of production and distribution, and comments on its importance for socialist countries.