Abstract
The paper explores similarity in the analysis of dumping by Ludwig von Mises, which he labels as margin monopoly, in Human Action: A Treatise on Economics (1949), and by Joan Robinson in The Economics of Imperfect Competition (1933). Mises, though, does not admit to similarity with Robinson, and five reasons are suggested why he was unwilling to acknowledge Robinson. Robinson’s analysis is neoclassical, and so is that of Mises, which is an anomaly for Mises, an Austrian economist who generally focuses on activity in disequilibrium.
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Notes
Subsequent literature on international price discrimination between 1933 and 1949 includes Beach (1936), McDiarmid (1938), Leontief (1940), Lovasy (1941), and Enke (1946). Cantono and Marchionatti (2012, p. 193) cite Pasquale Jannaccone (who wrote before Viner and in Italian) as being responsible for the “theoretical origin of dumping, in the context of imperfect competition.”
Mises (1943, unpublished manuscript, 1990, p. 147) also discusses tariffs that protect domestic cartels.
Negru (2013, p. 995) identifies Mises as one of the four important members of the Austrian school, along with Carl Menger, Friedrich von Hayek, and Murray Rothbard. Neck (2014) contrasts the work of Menger, the founder of the Austrian school, with contributions of recent thinkers in the Austrian tradition.
Robinson also has agreement with Mises on the importance of economic history. “It is only by interpreting history, including the present in history, that economics can aspire to be a serious subject” Robinson (1980, p. 224).
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The author would like to thank Peter Z. Grossman, Robert S. Main, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments.
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Rieber, W.J. Ludwig Von Mises’ Neoclassical Analysis of Dumping. Atl Econ J 44, 447–455 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11293-016-9513-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11293-016-9513-7