Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/149690 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
CHOPE Working Paper No. 2012-08
Publisher: 
Duke University, Center for the History of Political Economy (CHOPE), Durham, NC
Abstract: 
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), particularly his demonstration of the dynamic relation between industrial concentration and economic development. Modigliani addressed only Sylos' microeconomic analysis and the determination of the long-run equilibrium price and output, concentrating on the role played by firms' anticipations. By doing so he shifted attention from Sylos' objective analysis to a subjective approach to oligopoly problem. This paper discusses Sylos' and Modigliani's differing approaches, derives the origin of the Sylos postulate and sets Modigliani's interpretation of Sylos' oligopoly theory in the context of his 1950s research into firms' behaviour under uncertainty.
Subjects: 
Modigliani
Sylos Labini
Sylos postulate
Oligopoly Theory
JEL: 
B13
B21
B31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.