| Alfred
Marshall (1842-1924) a British economics professor at Oxford
University, developed economics into a more rigorous, professional
discipline than ever before. He invented concepts such as price
elasticity, the representative firm, consumer's surplus, and
other ideas that significantly enlarged the "analytical tool kit"
of the economist.
Darwin's
ideas about biological evolution especially influenced Marshall,
who learned a great deal about economic behavior by viewing
a business firm as a biological organism, complete with a life
cycle. Marshall also analyzed the effects on a business firm
of a "neighborhood" of direct competitors, anticipating the
clustering behavior of firms in the same industry (e.g. autos
in Detroit). Marshall is perhaps best remembered for explaining
the interaction of supply (i.e. costs of production) and demand
(i.e. consumer utility), using the famous "scissors" metaphor
to explain how these forces determine the price of an object.
|
Darwin
& Evolution