Richard Kahn’s short-term economics and the beginnings of oligopoly theory: a contribution to the history of contemporary economic thought

ABSTRACT

This article aims to contribute to the history of contemporaneous economic thought. It deals with Richard Kahn’s fellowship dissertation, and its influence on the development of the theory of imperfect competition and on the theory of oligopoly. It discusses the author’s claim of being the first to create the “kinked demand curve” even before the work of the Oxford Economic Research Group was initiated. It also argues that he developed a way of measuring the “degree of monopoly” before Kalecki.

KEYWORDS:
History of economic thought; Richard Kahn, imperfect competition; oligopoly; Keynesianism