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The Problem of the Empirical Data: Capital in the Twenty-First Century?

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Essays on the Historicity of Capital
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Abstract

In this chapter, I will make a critical and methodological analysis of the theses presented by Piketty in his book “Capital in the twenty first century” (2014). Income distribution and long-term growth are linked to the specificities of capital and/or to the choice of a value theory. The definition of the nature of capital and/or the choice of a value theory are the necessary conditions to explain the modalities of growth and income distribution.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Marwil-Dávila and Oreiro (2016).

  2. 2.

    See our discussion in Chapter II.

  3. 3.

    For an alternative analysis, see Marwil-Dávila and Oreiro (2016).

  4. 4.

    In respect to the theoretical an empirical limits of such approach, see J. Felipe and J. S. L. McCombie (2005).

  5. 5.

    The French version (2013) is different from the English one (2014); I will use both.

  6. 6.

    Patchwork, in the sense Piketty uses various incompatible theoretical frameworks, and he does not respect the internal coherency of each one. Such observation may be applied both to the way Piketty uses orthodox and to heterodox frameworks.

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Herscovici, A. (2019). The Problem of the Empirical Data: Capital in the Twenty-First Century?. In: Essays on the Historicity of Capital. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14838-6_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14838-6_8

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