Hicks's the Theory of Wages: Its Place in the History of Neoclassical Distribution Theory (John Richard Hicks) (Critical Essay‪)‬

Abstract: Argues that J.R. Hicks's 1932 book, The Theory of Wages, foreshadows a number of important later developments in Hicks's theory, including some significant contributions to neoclassical distribution theory. These developments include a reformulation of marginal productivity theory; the introduction of the elasticity of substitution as an analytical tool; contributions to the product exhaustion theorem; an economic analysis of strikes; and a macroeconomic theory of relative factor shares. Concludes that Hicks's own subsequent rejection of the book was unduly self-critical. 1 Introduction