Harrod 1939

Harrod's 1939 'Essay in Dynamic Theory' is celebrated as one of the foundational papers in the modern theory of economic growth. Linked eternally to Evsey Domar, he appears in the undergraduate and graduate macroeconomics curricula, and his 'fundamental equation' appears as...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Economic journal (London) Vol. 125; no. 583; pp. 350 - 377
Main Authors Blume, Lawrence E., Sargent, Thomas J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2015
John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Oxford University Press
Subjects
Distribution
Dynamics
Economic growth
Economic theory
Economists
Graduates
Growth models
Harrod, Roy
Keynesian theory
Macroeconomics
Studies
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Summary:Harrod's 1939 'Essay in Dynamic Theory' is celebrated as one of the foundational papers in the modern theory of economic growth. Linked eternally to Evsey Domar, he appears in the undergraduate and graduate macroeconomics curricula, and his 'fundamental equation' appears as the central result of the AK model in modern textbooks. Reading his Essay today, however, the reasons for his centrality are less clear. Looking forward from 1939, we see that the main stream of economic growth theory is built on neoclassical distribution theory rather than on the Keynesian principles Harrod deployed. Looking back, we see that there were many antecedent developments in growth economics, some much closer than Harrod's to contemporary developments. So what, then, did Harrod accomplish?
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-CJ4TGXCJ-S
ArticleID:ECOJ12224
istex:11EB3D675915C7F364B773130E10F01480B53DFC
We thank Roger Backhouse and Daniele Besomi for useful discussions about Harrod.
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ISSN:0013-0133
1468-0297
DOI:10.1111/ecoj.12224