Economics and Finance

The course aims at examining the two alternative approaches to the theory of value and income distribution that we find in the history of economic analysis: the approach of the classical economists, based on the notion of ‘social surplus’, and the approach of the marginalist (or ‘neoclassical’) economists, which relies on demand and supply functions for factors of production. As regards the classical economists, we shall first examine the early contributions of F. Quesnay, A. Smith, D. Ricardo and K. Marx, and then the modern version of classical theory. As regards the marginalist theory of value and distribution, attention will primarily be focused on the traditional version based on the notion of ‘capital’ as a factor of production. The last part of the course, however, will briefly examine the different version put forward by L. Walras and revived by current general equilibrium theory. Specific goals More in detail, the course aims at allowing the students: (A) to gain a deeper understanding of central elements of traditional microeconomic theory, especially as regards the foundations of the demand and supply functions for productive factors on which the determination the distributive variables relies; (B) to acquire a basic knowledge of the developments of the classical theory of value and distribution; (C) to critically assess the two alternative approaches to the theory of value, as well as the different conclusions they reach as regards the functioning of market economies; (D) to orient themselves in the ongoing debate in the field of the theory of value and distribution.