Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Marginal utility: Marginal utility measures the additional satisfaction or benefit gained from consuming one more unit of a product or service. As consumption increases, the marginal utility often decreases due to diminishing returns—each additional unit provides less additional satisfaction. This concept is fundamental in understanding consumer choices, preferences, and demand for goods or services. See also Utility, Benefit, Marginal return._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Piero Sraffa on Marginal Utility - Dictionary of Arguments
Kurz I 51 Marginal Utility/Sraffa/Kurz: In the Preface to his book(1), Piero Sraffa expressed a warning concerning the use of the concept of ‘margin’ in economic theory. He wrote: „Caution is necessary … to avoid mistaking spurious ‘margins’ for the genuine article. Instances will be met in these pages which at first sight may seem indistinguishable from examples of marginal production; but the sure sign of their spuriousness is the absence of the requisite kind of change. The most familiar case is that of the product of the ‘marginal land’ in agriculture, when lands of different qualities are cultivated side by side: on this, one need only refer to P. H. Wicksteed, the purist of marginal theory, who condemns such a use of the term ‘marginal’ as a source of ‘dire confusion.“ (Sraffa, 1960, pp. v–vi; the reference is to Wicksteed, 1914)(2). 1. Sraffa, P. (1960). Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2. Wicksteed, P. H. (1914). The Scope and Method of Political Economy, Economic Journal, 24: 1-23. Presidential Address to Section F of British Association, Birmingham, 1913. Kurz, Heinz D. Salvadori, Neri 2015. „Spurious ‘margins’ versus the genuine article“. In: In: Kurz, Heinz; Salvadori, Neri 2015. Revisiting Classical Economics: Studies in Long-Period Analysis (Routledge Studies in the History of Economics). London, UK: Routledge._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Sraffa I Piero Sraffa Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Cambridge 1960 Kurz I Heinz D. Kurz Neri Salvadori Revisiting Classical Economics: Studies in Long-Period Analysis (Routledge Studies in the History of Economics). Routledge. London 2015 |
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