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Marshall's Labor and Wage Theory

The purpose of this research is to examine Alfred Marshall's labor and wage theory. Marshall's theory is then contrasted with those of later economists.

Alfred Marshall was an Englishman, who lived from 1842 to 1924). During his somewhat more than 50 years as a university lecturer, professor, and researcher, Marshall produced 82 publications. Three of his most important published contributions to economics--The Economics of Industry (first published in 1879), Principles of Economics (first published in 1890), and Industry and Trade (first published in 1919)--have experienced multiple editions and printings. His fourth great published work on economics--Money, Credit and Commerce--was issued in 1923--one year before his death, and has not experienced multiple editions.

With respect to value, demand, and prices, Marshall (1920, pp. 89-91) introduced the important concept of elasticity of demand--that is, the degree to which changes in price of a given article affect the demand for it. From this single concept, ideas related to imperfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and oligopsony, and their potential effects on value, demand, and prices were derived by Marshall, and other economists who followed him.

Soule (1952, pp. 102-103) said of Marshall that he "exercised a dominant influence over British economic thought during his maturity and for some time after his death." With his talents, Marshall "built on tradition, wove together contributions from various schools, and constructed an intellectual house of many mansions where a large variety of opinions might feel at home" (Soule, 1952, p. 103).

Marshall exerted an enormous influence on most of the economists which followed him. His influence on John Maynard Keynes, who was one of his students, and others resulted in the building of new, or extended, economic theory on Marshall's theoretical base. Certainly not all econ...

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Marshall's Labor and Wage Theory. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 04:34, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1680696.html