Callahan on Price Rigidity

Gene Callahan has an interesting post here that he regards as a “brief sketch of the Keynesian ‘vision’”:

Gene Callahan, “A Brief Sketch of the Keynesian ‘Vision,’” La Bocca della Verità, February 3, 2014.

His point (5) on price rigidity is a crucial one:

“5) Producers are likely to adjust to this situation [sc., aggregate demand failure] through cutting back on production rather than by making price adjustments, so that the economy spirals down into a recession.”

His comment on this is as follows:

“5) Here is the final spot for a genuine argument against Keynes, and once again it turns out to be an empirical matter: do price adjustments take place rapidly enough in a largely unfettered market that quantity adjustments will play a relatively minor role? If so, a recession will never really build any momentum.”

Callahan seems to be thinking of old neoclassical synthesis Keynesians and New Keynesians here. But it is important to distinguish between the New Keynesian view of price rigidity and that of Post Keynesianism.

Many New Keynesians believe that, if only wages and prices were perfectly flexible, then economies would adjust rapidly to full employment equilibrium. Post Keynesians, following Keynes himself, reject the view that perfectly flexible wages, prices and perfect competition would lead to full employment equilibrium. Even if there were perfectly flexible wages and prices, there could still be failures of aggregate demand (Davidson 1992; Hill: 1996: 377). But let me put that issue entirely to the side, and assume a standard New Keynesian analysis.

One must ask why should a “genuine argument against Keynes” (or, rather, New Keynesians) have to be made with respect to a “largely unfettered market”? Surely the relevant concept is “real world markets.”

Here a mountain of empirical evidence has been available for many years, and it shows that administered prices/mark-up prices/full cost prices are the majority of prices in modern market economies.

Such prices are set by businesses through their cost accounting conventions in an ex ante manner before transactions take place, on the basis of (1) total average unit costs plus (2) a profit mark-up, at a given, estimated, projected or target quantity of output or level of sales (from which of course the ex post or actual quantity of output produced or sold in a given time period might differ).

Empirical evidence shows us that mark-up prices are generally inflexible with respect to demand, but tend to change – though it is by no means a necessary or universal process – when total average unit costs change or when the business wants to change its profit mark-up.

The early empirical work and theory development on administered prices/mark-up prices was done by Gardiner C. Means (1935, 1936, 1939–1940, 1962, 1992 [1933], and 1972, which are discussed here and here), Hall and Hitch (1939) (discussed here and here), P. W. S. Andrews (1949, 1949a, 1964), Kalecki (1954, 1971), A. D. H. Kaplan (Kaplan et el. 1958), and others.

But much more empirical evidence has been done over the past 50 years too (much of it listed here or in Appendix 1 below, including literature from the related “marginalist” controversy), and especially by central bank surveys on price setting over the past 10 years that were inspired by Blinder’s influential direct surveys on US business price setting (Blinder 1998).

The standard Post Keynesian works on mark-up pricing are Lee (1998) and Downward (1999).

The most recent empirical evidence on mark-up pricing in many nations can be seen below, with longer analysis given in separate posts I link to at the end of each “literature” section:

(1) The United States

Literature:
Kaplan, A. D. H., Dirlam, J. B. and Lanzillotti, R. F. 1958. Pricing in Big Business: A Case Approach. The Brookings Institution, Washington DC.

Lanzillotti, R. F. 1964. Pricing Production and the Marketing Policies of Small Manufacturers. Washington State University Press, Pullman, Washington.

Gordon, L. A., Cooper, R., Falk, H., and D. Miller. 1981. The Pricing Decision. National Association of Accountants, New York.

Govindarajan, V. and R. Anthony. 1986. “How Firms use Cost Data in Price Decisions,” Management Accounting 65: 30–34.

Shim, Eunsup, and Ephraim Sudit. 1995. “How Manufacturers Price Products,” Management Accounting 76.8: 37–39.

Blinder, A. S. et al. (eds.). 1998. Asking about Prices: A New Approach to Understanding Price Stickiness. Russell Sage Foundation, New York.

Downward, Paul and Frederic Lee. 2001. “Post Keynesian Pricing Theory ‘Reconfirmed’? A Critical Review of Asking about Prices,” Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 23.3: 465–483.

“Two Marketing Studies on US Administered Prices,” November 16, 2013.

Govindarajan and Anthony (1986) and Shim and Sudit (1995) are two marketing surveys that found that from the 1980s to the 1990s mark-up pricing accounted for roughly 70% to 85% of US industrial prices.

In a much broader and more representative survey for the US economy as a whole, Blinder et al. (1998: 200–201) found that 56.8% of the firms they surveyed said that the idea that prices and price changes depend mainly on costs of production ranked as “very important” (38.8%) or moderately important (18%).

(2) Canada

Literature:
Amirault, D., Kwan, C. and G. Wilkinson. 2004. “A Survey of the Price-Setting Behaviour of Canadian Companies,” Bank of Canada Review 2004/2005: 29–40.
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2006/09/publications/research/working-paper-2006-35/

“Mark-up Pricing in Canada,” January 7, 2014.

Amirault, Kwan, and Wilkinson (2004) examine price setting in Canada, and report the results of a survey of 170 private, unregulated, non-primary sector firms in the sectors of construction (10%), manufacturing (26%), trade (14%), and services (49%), in a sample which should give representative results for about 70% of Canada’s output in 2002 (Amirault, Kwan, and Wilkinson 2004: 3–4).

An impressive 67.1% of firms surveyed attributed price inflexibility to “cost-based pricing” – that is, to mark-up pricing (Amirault, Kwan, and Wilkinson 2004: 21).

(3) Eurozone

Literature:
Fabiani, S., M. Druant, I. Hernando, C. Kwapil, B. Landau, C. Loupias, F. Martins, T. Mathä, R. Sabbatini, H. Stahl and A. Stokman. 2006. “What Firms’ Surveys tell us about Price-Setting Behavior in the Euro Area,” International Journal of Central Banking 2.3: 3–47.

Fabiani, Silvia, Suzanne Loupias, Claire, Monteiro Martins, Fernando Manuel and Roberto Sabbatini. 2007. Pricing Decisions in the Euro Area: How Firms set Prices and Why. Oxford University Press, New York.

“Administered Prices in the Eurozone: Some Empirical Data,” October 16, 2013.

The wide-ranging survey of Fabiani et al. (2006) and (2007) on prices in the Eurozone from many central bank studies finds that the average for mark-up pricing throughout the Eurozone is 54%, a majority of firm prices.

In goods markets in Germany, the largest economy in Europe, a strikingly high 73% of firms have administered prices (Fabiani et al. 2006: 18, Table 4).

(4) the UK

Literature:
Greenslade, Jennifer V. and Miles Parker. 2012. “New Insights into Price-Setting Behaviour in the UK: Introduction and Survey Results,” Economic Journal 122.558: F1–F15.

Hall, S., Walsh, M. and A. Yates. 2000. “Are UK Companies’ Prices Sticky?,” Oxford Economic Papers 52.3: 425–446.

“Administered Pricing in the United Kingdom,” October 19, 2013.

“Downward’s Pricing Theory in Post-Keynesian Economics: Chapter 8,” January 23, 2014.

Greenslade and Parker (2012), the most recent study, finds that cost-based pricing with variable mark-ups accounted for 58% of firms surveyed.

Downward (1999, Chapter 8) presents a survey of 283 UK manufacturing enterprises (Downward 1999: 150–151). When asked whether the firm set its prices for its products by means of a mark-up on average costs, 63.7% of firms said either “very often” (29.9%) or “often” (33.8%). A further 17.3% said “sometimes.” Only 7% said “rarely,” and only 8.1% said “not at all” (Downward 1999: 160).

(5) Norway

Literature:
Langbraaten, Nina, Nordbø, Einar W. and Fredrik Wulfsberg. 2008. “Price-setting Behaviour of Norwegian Firms – Results of a Survey,” Norges Bank Economic Bulletin 79.2: 13–34.
http://www.norges-bank.no/en/about/published/publications/economic-bulletin/economic-bulletin-22008/price-setting-behaviour-of-norwegian-firms--results-of-a-survey/

“Mark-up Pricing in Norway,” November 23, 2013.

Langbraaten et al. (2008) cite a well-sampled survey of 725 firms throughout many sectors of the Norwegian economy that found that 69% of Norwegian businesses use mark-up pricing.

(6) Ireland

Literature:
Keeney, Mary, Lawless, Martina, and Alan Murphy. 2010. “How Do Firms Set Prices? Survey Evidence from Ireland,” Central Bank of Ireland, Research Technical Papers, no 7/RT/10.
http://ideas.repec.org/p/cbi/wpaper/7-rt-10.html

“Mark-up Pricing in Ireland,” November 22, 2013.

Keeney et al. (2010) report the results of a survey of 1000 Irish firms and finds that the largest type of pricing is mark-up pricing at 44% of firms. Other evidence from their paper, presented in my post here, suggests that the real percentage is higher than this, since when firms were asked how likely it was that they would adjust prices downwards in response to a negative demand shock, 66.5% of firms said that negative demand shocks were of little or no relevance to pricing decisions.

(7) Iceland

Literature:
Ólafsson, Thorvardur Tjörvi, Pétursdóttir, Ásgerdur, and Karen Á. Vignisdóttir. 2011. “Price Setting in Turbulent Times: Survey Evidence from Icelandic Firms,” Working Paper Central Bank of Iceland
www.sedlabanki.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=8891‎

“Mark-up Prices in Iceland,” November 25, 2013.

Ólafsson et al. (2011) cite a survey of 580 Icelandic firms and finds that mark-up pricing is the largest type of pricing at 45%. Evidence suggests that more mark-up prices are concealed in the other categories in the survey, so that the real percentage is higher than this.

(8) Sweden

Literature:
Apel, Mikael, Friberg, Richard and Kerstin Hallsten. 2005. “Microfoundations of Macroeconomic Price Adjustment: Survey Evidence from Swedish Firms,” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 37.2: 313–338.

“Mark-up Pricing in Sweden,” January 9, 2014.

Apel et al. (2005) provide data on price setting behaviour in Sweden, from a survey of about 600 private sector firms (Apel et al. 2005: 314) weighted to create a more representative sample of the Swedish economy (Apel et al. 2005: 316), but their study fails to directly ask firms how they set price.

Interestingly, when asked why they leave prices unchanged in response to small changes in demand, many firms said “it is better to leave the price unchanged as long as the costs do not change” (Apel et al. 2005: 323), which gives some support to the view that mark-up pricing is important.

(9) Japan

Literature:
Hsu, Robert. 1999. “Pricing Practices in Japan,” Global Business and Economics Review 1.2: 164–171.

Nakagawa, S., R. Hattori and I. Takagawa, 2000. “Price-Setting Behaviour of Japanese Companies,” Bank of Japan Research Paper
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/research/brp/ron_2000/ron0009b.htm/

“Mark-up Pricing in Japan,” November 29, 2013.

Nakagawa and Takagawa (2000) cite a survey of 630 Japanese companies. As interpreted by Fabiani et al. (2007: 190), the data suggest that least 54% of Japanese firms use mark-up pricing.

(10) New Zealand

Literature:
Parker, Miles. “Price-Setting Behaviour in New Zealand”
https://cama.crawford.anu.edu.au/amw2013/doc/Parker,Miles.pdf

“Mark-up Pricing in New Zealand,” November 30, 2013.

Parker cites a survey of around 5,300 New Zealand firms that finds that mark-up prices account for about 54% of business prices.

(11) Australia

Literature:
Park, Anna, Rayner, Vanessa and Patrick D’Arcy. 2010. “Price-Setting Behaviour – Insights from Australian Firms,” Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin (June Quarter): 7–14.
http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2010/jun/bu-0610-2a.html

“Mark-up Pricing in Australia,” November 30, 2013.

Park, Rayner, and D’Arcy (2010) cite a survey of around 700 Australian firms that finds that mark-up prices account for at least 49% of firm prices. Once we add likely mark-up prices concealed in the other categories in the survey, the percentage will be higher than this.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Amirault, D., Kwan, C. and G. Wilkinson. 2004. “A Survey of the Price-Setting Behaviour of Canadian Companies,” Bank of Canada Review 2004/2005: 29–40.
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2006/09/publications/research/working-paper-2006-35/

Andrews, P. W. S. 1949. “A Reconsideration of the Theory of the Individual Business,” Oxford Economic Papers n.s. 1.1: 54–89.

Andrews, P. W. S. 1949a. Manufacturing Business. Macmillan, London.

Andrews, P.W.S. 1964. On Competition in Economic Theory. Macmillan, London.

Apel, Mikael, Friberg, Richard and Kerstin Hallsten. 2005. “Microfoundations of Macroeconomic Price Adjustment: Survey Evidence from Swedish Firms,” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 37.2: 313–338.

Berle, Adolf A. and Gardner C. Means. 1932. The Modern Corporation and Private Property. Macmillan, New York.

Blinder, A. S. et al. (eds.). 1998. Asking about Prices: A New Approach to Understanding Price Stickiness. Russell Sage Foundation, New York.

Davidson, P. 1992. “Would Keynes be a New Keynesian?,” Eastern Economic Journal 18.4: 449–463.

Downward, Paul. 1999. Pricing Theory in Post-Keynesian Economics: A Realist Approach. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA.

Downward, Paul and Frederic Lee. 2001. “Post Keynesian Pricing Theory ‘Reconfirmed’? A Critical Review of Asking about Prices,” Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 23.3: 465–483.

Fabiani, S., M. Druant, I. Hernando, C. Kwapil, B. Landau, C. Loupias, F. Martins, T. Mathä, R. Sabbatini, H. Stahl and A. Stokman. 2006. “What Firms’ Surveys tell us about Price-Setting Behavior in the Euro Area,” International Journal of Central Banking 2.3: 3–47.

Fabiani, Silvia, Suzanne Loupias, Claire, Monteiro Martins, Fernando Manuel and Roberto Sabbatini. 2007. Pricing Decisions in the Euro Area: How Firms set Prices and Why. Oxford University Press, New York.

Govindarajan, V. and R. Anthony. 1986. “How Firms use Cost Data in Price Decisions,” Management Accounting 65: 30–34.

Greenslade, Jennifer V. and Miles Parker. 2012. “New Insights into Price-Setting Behaviour in the UK: Introduction and Survey Results,” Economic Journal 122.558: F1–F15.

Hall, R. L. and C. J. Hitch. 1939. “Price Theory and Business Behaviour,” Oxford Economic Papers 2: 12–45.

Hall, S., Walsh, M. and A. Yates. 2000. “Are UK Companies’ Prices Sticky?,” Oxford Economic Papers 52.3: 425–446.

Hill, Greg. 1996. “Capitalism, Coordination, and Keynes: Rejoinder to Horwitz,” Critical Review 10: 373–387.

Kalecki, M. 1954. Theory of Economic Dynamics. Allen and Unwin, London.

Kalecki, M. 1971. Selected Essays on the Dynamics of the Capitalist Economy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Kaplan, A. D. H., Dirlam, J. B. and Lanzillotti, R. F. 1958. Pricing in Big Business: A Case Approach. The Brookings Institution, Washington DC.

Keeney, Mary, Lawless, Martina, and Alan Murphy. 2010. “How Do Firms Set Prices? Survey Evidence from Ireland,” Central Bank of Ireland, Research Technical Papers, no 7/RT/10.
http://ideas.repec.org/p/cbi/wpaper/7-rt-10.html

Langbraaten, Nina, Nordbø, Einar W. and Fredrik Wulfsberg. 2008. “Price-setting Behaviour of Norwegian Firms – Results of a Survey,” Norges Bank Economic Bulletin 79.2: 13–34.
http://www.norges-bank.no/en/about/published/publications/economic-bulletin/economic-bulletin-22008/price-setting-behaviour-of-norwegian-firms--results-of-a-survey/

Lee, Frederic S. 1998. Post Keynesian Price Theory. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York.

Means, G. C. 1992 [1933]. “The Corporate Revolution,” in Frederic S. Lee and Warren J. Samuels (eds.), The Heterodox Economics of Gardiner C. Means: A Collection. M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, N.Y.

Means, G. C. 1935. Industrial Prices and their Relative Inflexibility. US Senate Document no. 13, 74th Congress, 1st Session, Government Printing Office, Washington DC.

Means, G. C. 1936. “Notes on Inflexible Prices,” American Economic Review 26 (Supplement): 23–35.

Means, G. C. 1939–1940. “Big Business, Administered Prices, and the Problem of Full Employment,” Journal of Marketing 4: 370–381.

Means, G. C. 1962. Pricing Power and the Public Interest. Harper and Brothers. New York.

Nakagawa, S., R. Hattori and I. Takagawa, 2000. “Price-Setting Behaviour of Japanese Companies,” Bank of Japan Research Paper
http://www.boj.or.jp/en/research/brp/ron_2000/ron0009b.htm/

Ólafsson, Thorvardur Tjörvi, Pétursdóttir, Ásgerdur, and Karen Á. Vignisdóttir. 2011. “Price Setting in Turbulent Times: Survey Evidence from Icelandic Firms,” Working Paper Central Bank of Iceland
www.sedlabanki.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=8891‎

Park, Anna, Rayner, Vanessa and Patrick D’Arcy. 2010. “Price-Setting Behaviour – Insights from Australian Firms,” Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin (June Quarter): 7–14.
http://www.rba.gov.au/publications/bulletin/2010/jun/bu-0610-2a.html

Parker, Miles. “Price-Setting Behaviour in New Zealand”
https://cama.crawford.anu.edu.au/amw2013/doc/Parker,Miles.pdf

Pittman, Russell. 2009. “Who Are You Calling Irrational? Marginal Costs, Variable Costs, and the Pricing Practices of Firms,” Economic Analysis Group Discussion Paper 09-3
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/eag/248394.htm

Shim, Eunsup, and Ephraim Sudit. 1995. “How Manufacturers Price Products,” Management Accounting 76.8: 37–39.

Appendix 1
Below are the main surveys and articles in the “full cost” and marginalist pricing debate of the 1940s to 1970s

Against Marginalism
Kaplan, A. D. H., Dirlam, J. B. and Lanzillotti, R. F. 1958. Pricing in Big Business: A Case Approach. The Brookings Institution, Washington DC.

Lanzillotti, Robert F. 1958. “Pricing Objectives in Large Companies,” American Economic Review 48.5: 921–940.

Kahn, Alfred E. 1959. “Pricing Objectives in Large Companies: Comment,” American Economic Review 49.4: 670–678.

Lanzillotti, Robert F. 1959. “Pricing Objectives in Large Companies: Reply,” American Economic Review 49.4: 679-687.

Barback, R. H. 1964. Pricing of Manufactures. Macmillan and Co Ltd., London.

Wentz, Theodore E. 1966. “Realism in Pricing Analyses,” Journal of Marketing 30.2: 19–26.

Skinner, R. C. 1970. “The Determination of Selling Prices,” Journal of Industrial Economics 18.3: 201–217.

Sizer, John. 1971. “Note on ‘the Determination of Selling Prices,’” The Journal of Industrial Economics 20.1: 85–89.

Hague, D. C. 1971. Pricing in Business. George Allen and Unwin, London.

Burck, G. 1972. “The Myths and Realities of Corporate Pricing,” Fortune 85.4: 85–89, 125–126.

Atkin, B. and Skinner, R. 1975. How British Industry Prices. Industrial Market Research Limited, London.

Shipley, David D. 1981. “Pricing Objectives in British Manufacturing Industry,” The Journal of Industrial Economics 29.4: 429–443.

Gordon, L. A., Cooper, R., Falk, H., and D. Miller. 1981. The Pricing Decision. National Association of Accountants, New York.

Hankinson, A. 1985. A Study of Pricing Behaviour of Dorset-Hampshire Small Engineering Firms. Dorset Institute of Higher Education, Poole, Dorset.

Bruegelman, T., Haessly, G., Wolfangel, C. P. and Schiff, M. 1985. “How Variable Costing is used in Pricing Decisions,” Management Accounting 66: 58–61, 65.

Samiee, S. 1987. “Pricing in Marketing Strategies of US- and Foreign-based Firms,” Journal of Business Research 15: 17–30.

Defending Marginalism
Gordon, R. A. 1948. “Short Period Price Determination in Theory and Practice,” American Economic Review 38: 265–288.

Hague, D. C. 1949–1950. “Economic Theory and Business Behaviour,” Review of Economic Studies 16: 144–157.

Edwards, R. S. 1952. “The Pricing of Manufactured Products,” Economica 19: 298–307.

Simon, H. A. 1952. “A Behavioural Model of Rational Choice,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 69: 99–118.

Simon, H. A. 1959. “Theories of Decision Making in Economies,” American Economic Review 49: 253–283.

Shackle, G. L. S. 1955. “Businessmen on Business Decisions,” Scottish Journal of Political Economy 2: 32–46.

Earley, James S. 1956. “Marginal Policies of ‘Excellently Managed’ Companies,” American Economic Review 46.1: 44–70.

Cook, A. C., Dufty, N. F. and Jones, E. H. 1956. “Full Cost Pricing in the Multiproduct Firm,” The Economic Record 32: 142–147.

Pearce, I. F. 1956. “A Study in Price Policy,” Economica n.s. 23.90: 114–127.

Pearce, I. F. and Amey, L. R. 1956–1957. “Price Policy with a Branded Product,” The Review of Economic Studies 24: 49–60.

Fog, B. 1960. Industrial Pricing Policies: An Analysis of Pricing Policies of Danish Manufacturers. North Holland Publishing, Amsterdam.

Knox, R. L. 1966. “Competitive Oligopolistic Pricing,” Journal of Marketing 30: 47–51.

Neutral Studies
Alt, R. M. 1949. “The Internal Organisation of the Firm and Price Formation: An Illustrative Case,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 63: 92–110.

Woodruff, W. 1953. “Early Entrepreneurial Behaviour in Relation to Costs and Prices,” Oxford Economic Papers 5: 41–64.

Blackwell, R. 1953–1954. “The Pricing of Books,” Journal of Industrial Economics 2: 174–183.

Cook, A. and Jones, F. 1954. “Full Cost Pricing in Western Australia,” The Economic Record 30: 272–274.

Balkin, N. 1956. “Prices in the Clothing Industry,” Journal of Industrial Economics 5.1: 1–15.

Lazer, W. 1956–1957. “Price Determination in the Western Canadian Garment Industry,” Journal of Industrial Economics 5: 124–136.

Pool, A. G. and Llewellyn, G. 1957. The British Hosiery Industry: A Study in Competition. Leicester University Press, Leicester.

Lydall, H. F. 1958. “Aspects of Competition in Manufacturing Industry,” Institute of Economics and Statistics Bulletin 20: 319–337.

Haynes, W. W. 1962. Pricing Decisions in Small Business. University of Kentucky Press, Lexington, KY.

Haynes, W. W. 1964. “Pricing Practices in Small Firms,” The Southern Economic Journal 30: 315–324.

Lanzillotti, R. F. 1964. Pricing Production and the Marketing Policies of Small Manufacturers. Washington State University Press, Pullman, Washington.

Rosendale, R. B. 1973. “The Short Run Pricing Policies of Some British Engineering Exporters,” National Institute Economic Review 65: 44–51.

Nowotny, Ewald and Herbert Walther. 1978. “The Kinked Demand Curve—Some Empirical Observations,” Kyklos 31: 53–67.

Forgionne, G. A. 1984. “Economic Tools used by Management in Large American Operated Corporations,” Business Economics 19: 5–17.

Jobber, D. and Hooley, G. 1987. “Price Behaviour in the UK Manufacturing Service Industries,” Managerial and Decision Economics 8.2: 167–171.

Smiley, Robert. 1988. “Empirical Evidence on Strategic Entry Deterrence,” International Journal of Industrial Organization 6.2: 167—180.

Blinder, Alan S. 1991. “Why are Prices Sticky? Preliminary Results from an Interview Study,” American Economic Review 81.2: 89–96.

Additional Studies
Alchian, A. A. 1950. “Uncertainty, Evolution and Economic Theory,” Journal of Political Economy 58: 211–221.

Robinson, A. 1950. “The Pricing of Manufactured Products,” Economic Journal 60: 771–780.

Machlup, F. 1946. “Marginal Analysis and Empirical Research,” American Economic Review 36: 519–554.

Heflebower, R. F. 1955. “Full Costs, Cost Changes, and Prices,” in National Bureau of Economic Research, Business Concentration and Price Policy. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 361–392.

Coase, R. 1955. “Full Cost, Cost Changes, and Prices: Comment,” in National Bureau of Economic Research, Business Concentration and Public Policy. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 392–394.

Wiles, P. 1950. “Empirical Research and the Marginal Analysis,” Economic Journal 60: 515–530.

Robinson, J. V. 1953. “Imperfect Competition Revisited,” Economic Journal 63: 579–593.