This paper documents an early fork in the development of macroeconomics, by examining a debate between the Dutch economists Jan Tinbergen and Johan Koopmans. In a 1932 paper, Tinbergen argued that two firms could be stuck in a 'bad' equilibrium in the absence of a coordinated action to increase...

We trace the origins of the definition of the "quality variable" used in the theory of product differentiation, which states that quality is unanimously appreciated by consumers, entails a higher unit cost for firms, is unidimensional and continuous. We also document the transition from a...

In demand theory, the "characteristics approach" refers to situations where goods are described according to their characteristics. This approach is often contrasted with the "goods are goods" approach. We trace the origin of this expression back to a critique of demand theory formulated by...

This article examines George Christopher Archibald's contributions to monopolistic competition theory, which he approached from multiple perspectives throughout his career. In the 1950s, he critiqued this theory for its vague definitions and for prompting several economists to abandon profit...

In welfare economics, the theory of second best is inextricably linked to an article by Richard George Lipsey and Kelvin John Lancaster, published in 1956 in the Review of Economic Studies. The publication of this article was encouraged by Harry Gordon Johnson, who was a member of the journal's...

Paolo Sylos Labini's Oligopoly Theory and Technical Progress (1957) is considered one of the major contributions to entry-prevention models, especially after Franco Modigliani's famous formalization. Nonetheless, Modigliani neglected Sylos Labini's major aim when reviewing his work (1958),...

F. A. Hayek took two trips to Chile, the first in 1977, the second in 1981. The visits were controversial. On the first trip he met with Genera l Augusto Pinochet, who had led a coup that overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973. During his 1981 visit, Ha yek gave interviews that were published in the...

While historians of economics have noted the transition toward empirical work in economics since the 1970s, less understood is the shift toward \quasi-experimental" methods in applied microeconomics. Angrist and Pischke (2010) trumpet the wide application of these methods as a \credibility...

In October 1956, the RAND Corporation establis hed the Logistics Systems Laboratory (LSL) with the goal of using simulation to translate the broad findings of normative microeconomics into detailed, implementable pr ocedures for US Air Force oper ations. The laboratory was housed in the training...

The paper investigates Evsey's Domar's introduction of the rate of growth as a variable in economics in the 1940s and 1950s . Domar investigated the nature of what he called the "moving equilibrium" of ec onomic processes with infinite duration. Reactions to Domar' s approach at the time brought...