Capital Theory, the Surplus Approach, and Effective Demand
Description
This book presents a representative set of Pierangelo Garegnani's (1930-2011) works on the theory of value and distribution. It features a selection of essays, chosen by Garegnani himself, concerning central aspects of his work: first and foremost, the continuation and development of Piero Sraffa's effort to elaborate an alternative to the dominance of marginalist thought on the theory of value and distribution. Garegnani articulates and extends Sraffa's contribution in two directions: the critique of marginalist theory with respect to the treatment of capital, and the reappraisal of the surplus approach to distribution proper to classical political economy. In turn, these two strands of analysis are combined in Garegnani's project to make the Keynesian principle of effective demand more robust and general by dropping the unnecessary elements of marginalism and linking it to the classical explanation of distribution.
This book reveals how Garegnani's contribution has advanced the degree of theoretical elaboration for several issues that fall within the developmental paths of economic analysis opened by Sraffa and Keynes. It begins with a comprehensive introduction in which Garegnani illustrates the conceptual path that links the contributions presented here. The starting point of this intellectual journey is Garegnani's previously unpublished doctoral thesis 'A Problem in the Theory of Distribution from Ricardo to Wicksell,' prepared at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Piero Sraffa and Maurice Dobb, which is followed by various essays selected by Garegnani on the critique of marginalist theories, the classical approach to value and distribution, and the role of aggregate demand for the long-run trends of output and capital accumulation.
The book is a must-read for all scholars interested in the resumption and development of the classical approach, as well as economic theory in general, and the history of economic thought.
Reviews / Votes
"Garegnani's achievements may be summarized in the following way, which also underscores why the collection of essays under review deserves many careful readers. His PhD thesis and his numerous contributions to the history of economic analysis provide compelling evidence of his deep understanding of the genuine significance and specific analytical structure of the classical approach to the theory of value and distribution and how it differs fundamentally from the marginalist one." (Heinz Kurz, Review of Political Economy, July 21, 2025)
" The volume Capital Theory, the Surplus Approach and Effective Demand (Springer, 2024), edited by Roberto Ciccone, collects 17 essays written by Garegnani throughout his academic career (one is co-authored with Antonella Palumbo) plus an Introduction also written by the author. . This volume provides significant support for a long-overdue return to the foundations of political economy, fostering fertile economic research that is both relevant and useful to today's society." (Enrico Bellino, HEI History of Economic Ideas, Vol. 33 (3), 2025)
"This publication is a welcome occasion to be reminded of the importance of an economist whose work was, and still is, very influential within the extended family of heterodox scholars. ... This volume will be appreciated by two sets of readers alike. First, those who have been influenced by Garegnani . . Second, for those who, because of age or education, had never come across his work . ." (Maria Cristina Marcuzzo, The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, July 18, 2025)
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Persons
Editor:
Roberto Ciccone
was Full Professor of Economics at the University of Roma Tre (now retired) and Director of the Centro Ricerche e Documentazione "Piero Sraffa". The main areas of his research include the modern reappraisal of the classical theory of value and distribution, and the extension of the Keynesian approach to the level of activity to the long run.
Author:
Pierangelo Garegnani
(1930-2011), a pupil of Piero Sraffa at the University of Cambridge (UK), was one of the most prolific and innovative Italian economists. He was one of the main exponents of the school that, starting from Sraffa's contributions, developed the "capital critique" of marginalist theory and initiated the modern revival of the theoretical approach of the classical economists.
Content
PART I: THE PH.D. DISSERTATION : A Problem in the Theory of Distribution from Ricardo to Wicksell. - PART II: CRITIQUE OF MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY THEORIES: Heterogeneous Capital, the Production Function and the Theory of Distribution.- Switching of Technique.- On a Change in the Notion of Equilibrium in Recent Work on Value and Distribution: a Comment on Samuelson.- Savings, Investment and Capital in General Intertemporal Equilibrium.- PART III: THE CLASSICAL APPROACH - VALUE AND DISTRIBUTION: The Classical Theory of Wages and the Role of Demand Schedules in the Determination of Relative Prices.- Value and Distribution in the Classical Economists and Marx.- Misunderstanding Classical Economics? A reply to Mark Blaug.- On Some Supposed Obstacles to the Tendency of Market Prices.- Towards Natural Prices.- PART IV: THE CLASSICAL APPROACH - AGGREGATE DEMAND: Notes on Consumption, Investment and Effective Demand I.- Notes on Consumption, Investment and Effective Demand II.- Two Routes to Effective Demand.- Some Notes for an Analysis of Accumulation.- Accumulation of Capital (with A. Palumbo).- PART V: CLASSICAL AND MARGINALIST AUTHORS IN THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Sraffa's Price Equations: Stationary Economy or Normal Positions.- On a Turning Point in Sraffa's Theoretical and Interpretative Position in the Late 1920s.- On Sraffa's contribution to economic theory.