On the Cambridge, England, Critique of the Marginal Productivity Theory of Distribution

Abstract

The Cambridge, England, critique of the marginal productivity theory of distribution is hard to disentangle from the related theories and developments that occurred alongside it. These include value theory, price theory, capital theory, growth theory and methodology. Indeed, in the event, I found it impossible to disentangle them and I argue in the concluding section that not being able to do so is no bad thing anyway. The economists associated with the critique – Krishna Bharadwaj, Pierangelo Garegnani, Richard Kahn, Nicholas Kaldor, Luigi Pasinetti, Joan Robinson, Piero Sraffa – were simultaneously developing their own theories of distribution to replace marginal productivity. Their theories were embodied in theories of growth and reflected the methodology associated with the critique and their own developments.