HARROD,ROY AND THE OXFORD ECONOMISTS RESEARCH GROUPS INQUIRY ON PRICES AND INTEREST, 1936-39

In 1936-39, a group of Oxford tutors inquired, by means of interviews with entrepreneurs, on price policy and investment decisions. A chrono logy of the inquiry is outlined, based on the surviving documents foun d in various archives, focusing on the choice of the subject, on the a ttempts to provide a theoretical interpretation of the phenomena that were discovered, and on the publication of the results. The role of Ha rrod is highlighted: it is assessed how far his theoretical approach t o the cycle influenced the inquiry, and to what extent he modified his view as a consequence of the group's findings. 'Our group ... best re presents the collective mind of economists in Oxford' (Harrod to the o ther members of the OERGm 21 April 1939, in ABP 45 and 170).