Was Allyn Young a Marshallian?

Abstract

AbstractThis paper argues that although Allyn Young was influenced by Alfred Marshall, he was an original economic thinker in his own right. The objective of this paper is to bring out their similarities as well as differences. This theoretical comparison will throw light on questions such as whether increasing returns are microeconomic or macroeconomic or whether they arise due to economies of scale at the firm level or are due to other factors. Marshall and Young had many similarities like both had an evolutionary perspective towards society, both had a process view of competition, both had almost common views on the method of economics and both saw economics as useful in solving practical problems. However, while Marshall emphasised statics (by assuming ceteris paribus) and analysed change mostly at the microeconomic level, Young emphasised disequilibrium and had a generalised conception of increasing returns.