Joan Robinson, a prominent British economist, was born in 1903 and died in 1983. She was ranked in the same caliber as people are given the Nobel Prize by other economists though she did not receive it (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2020). Robinson published her books such as The Economics of Imperfect Competition, Accumulation of Capital, Economic Philosophy, among others, and started what is referred to as the monopolistic competition revolution (Joan Violet Maurice Robinson, 1903-1983). Robinson had an impact on the prime discourses in the 20th-century trade and industry conjecture. This essay will analyze her contributions to economics and the influence it had on different countries.
Contributions of Joan Violet Robinson to Economics
At first, Robinson supported the Marshallian-based hypothesis but resorted to being a Keynes reformist after it failed to achieve the success it had pledged outlining its lack of job provisions. As a result, she turned out to be the major proponent of its effects for the already in place assumption and policy (Kerr, 2017). She also indulged in the schismatic appraisal of the Hellenism average production function because of her generalizing Keynes to a long-run hypothesis of development.
The exasperation Robinson faced from the few conceptual feedbacks to her rational appraisal of the Keynes theory made her put efforts into its application by proposing an approach that depended on individual institutions. Robinson influenced the Marshallian, Keynesian, Neo-Ricardian, and Post Keynesian theories by offering her support and alternatives in case they failed in an application. Her contribution to economics focused on different dimensions and perspectives as shown below:
- Robinson indicated that any hypothesis forwarded for acceptance is supposed to be meticulous and pertinent to ensure the theories aimed at improving the economies of different countries, both developed and developing economies.
- She declined the Hellenism model because it never changed specifying that it was static, problematic in analysis, irrelevant in task performance, and could not outline the growth process.
- Robinson was also a founder and an active contributor towards different perspectives on the development and dissemination of drawing inclination from Keynes and Kalecki, and Sraffa for varied perspectives if one of the theories fails (Marcuzzo, 2018).
- She contributed relatively to Neoclassical economies’ revival through her article in 1941, illustrating the derivation of rising supply price from general equilibrium, criticizing the production and distribution, and founding the elasticity of substitution.
- Robinson’s main interest was to upgrade economies by utilizing either socialist or capitalist means to ensure that the growth of the economy progressed regardless of the political or economic situation in different regions (Dimand & Hagermann, 2019).
- She gave her views during the world wars through various government and Labor Party committees, including condemnation of military donors and the unprofessional behavior in political and economic sections in America.
- Robinson offered full support to the socialist planning within the democracies for full job opportunities and steady economic growth through her essay on Karl Marx, stressing the extended scheme of reproduction.
- She wrote many books relating to economics to be read by the general public and gave opinions and suggestions on reviving Hellenic economics, illustrating how she valued economics.
- Moreover, Robinson wrote numerous essays found in the theory of economic growth including capital aggregation, and founded the Cambridge growth theory in conjunction with Nicholas Kaldor.
- Finally, she concentrated on the problems facing economics from a methodological point of view in attempts to revive the information given in Keynes’ general theory, dissatisfied with equilibrium theories.
Conclusion
Robinson contributed immensely to economics to ensure the theories were always functional and applicable in various situations. Furthermore, she never hesitated to talk about anything that would harm the economy and was concerned with developing countries. In addition, she published books and essays explaining concepts of growth and market analysis as well as the capitalist and socialist developments. Her works are still relevant in analyzing economics in depth.
References
Dimand, R. W & Hagermann, H. (Eds.). (2019). The Elgar Companion to John Maynard Keynes In. P. Kerr (Ed.), Joan Violet Robinson. (pp. 397-407). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Joan Violet Maurice Robinson, 1903-1983. (n.d). Web.
Kerr, P. (2017). Joan Violet Robinson (1903–1983). In R. A. Cord (Ed), The Palgrave Companion to Cambridge Economics: Palgrave Macmillan. (pp. 673-704). Springer.
Marcuzzo, M. C. (2018). Joan Robinson’s challenges on how to construct a Post-Keynesian economic theory. Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, 52(2), pp. 121-134.
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (2020). Joan Robinson. Encyclopædia Britannica. Web.