DO SUPPLY CURVES SLOPE UP - THE EMPIRICAL RELEVANCE OF THE SRAFFIAN CRITIQUE OF NEOCLASSICAL PRODUCTION ECONOMICS

The Sraffian critique of neoclassical economics has tended to concentr ate on the input rather than the output side of production processes-i n particular, criticism of neoclassical capital theory. When it has ad dressed supply questions, it has been concerned more with individual c ommodities than aggregate supply. Furthermore, Sraffian economists hav e been criticised for not investigating the relevance of their hypothe ses empirically. This paper extends the Sraffian critique of Marshalli an partial analysis to cover aggregate supply and reports the results of a simulation exercise based on an econometric model of UK agricultu re that finds evidence of perverse supply response at the aggregate le vel. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited