Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Observation: detecting characteristics and behavior of objects by whatsoever contact with the object unlike conclusions from past processes or assumeded or imperceptible parts or hidden parameters. See also hidden variable, observation language, theories._____________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 Observation - Dictionary of Arguments
Kurz I 72 Observation/Sraffa/Kurz: [Sraffa] introduces and compares different observers with specific analytical attitudes and investigates how these attitudes may be useful to or detrimental for grasping some specific aspects of the object under investigation. This procedure explains why Sraffa is particularly attentive in separating the elements which are part of the object under analysis and those which depend on the special theoretical lenses used by the observer: in our view Sraffa’s implicit assumption is that theoretical lenses are indeed required for the investigation to be carried out and therefore an effort is to be made in order to choose which are the best ones in the given situation. >Method/Sraffa. Kurz I 79 In the Preface to PC(1) Sraffa introduces one object of analysis, ‘the properties of an economic system’ which ‘do not depend on changes in the scale of production or in the proportions of factors’, and two observers of that object. The former observer is introduced as (i) ‘anyone accustomed to think in terms of the equilibrium of demand and supply’, the latter as (ii) the scholar adopting the ‘standpoint … of the old classical economists from Adam Smith to Ricardo’. According to Sraffa, observers (i) and (ii) adopt two different attitudes towards the object under investigation. Such differences have a direct bearing on the observer’s ability to comprehend it. Observer (i) ‘may be induced’ by the symmetrical theory of value to interpret a model in which demand conditions play no explicit analytical role in price determination as a model based on an implicit assumption of constant returns to scale. Observer (ii) appears to be better equipped than observer (i) to perform the task of studying the properties of the object under investigation: „In a system in which, day after day, production continued unchanged in those respects, the marginal product of a factor (or alternatively the marginal cost of a product) would not merely be hard to find - it just would not be there to be found.“ (Sraffa 1960: v) Kurz I 81 Surplus/Method/Sraffa: In Chapter II of PC(1) Sraffa introduces an economy which ‘produces more than the minimum necessary for replacement and there is a surplus to be Kurz I 82 distributed’ (p. 6). The observer-Sraffa remarks: ‘the system becomes selfcontradictory’. This ‘contradiction’, however, is not inherent in the object under observation. Thus Sraffa’s remark amounts to a warning concerning the observer and her theoretical schemes: the observer would fall into a contradiction if she analysed the object ‘production with a surplus’ by means of the same analytical tools used for the object ‘production for subsistence’. A different theoretical scheme is needed. Kurz: In our view Sraffa’s warning is justified by the fact that at least two substantive differences exist between the object of Chapter I and the object of Chapter II: the existence of a surplus, in fact, determines the necessity for the observer (i) to choose a rule for the distribution of the surplus; and (ii) to distinguish between basic commodities and non-basic commodities. 1. Sraffa, P. (1960). Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Salvadori, Neri and Signorino, Rodolfo. 2015. „Piero Sraffa: economic reality, the economist and economic theory. An interpretation.“ 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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