Joan Robinson

Economist

• Born: October 31, 1903
• Place of Birth: Camberley, Surrey, England
• Died: August 5, 1983
• Place of Death: Cambridge, England

• Education: University of Cambridge
• Significance: Joan Robinson was the only major female economist of the twentieth century. Despite the issues she faced because of her gender, she helped shape several economic theories, including the concept of macroeconomics and the further explanation of Keynesian theory.

Background

Joan Robinson was born Joan Violet Maurice to a family of what was described in her New York Times obituary as "dissenting aristocrats." Her father was Sir Frederick Maurice, a major general in the British army who was discharged after he challenged political and economic policies during World War I (1914–1918). Her mother, Helen Marsh, was the daughter of a professor of surgery at the University of Cambridge. Robinson graduated from St. Paul's Girls' School in London, England. In 1922, she went on to study economics at the University of Cambridge's Girton College. During this time, she began reading the works of economists such as Alfred Marshall—who used mathematics to support the idea of supply and demand, or the concept that a price for a product would be affected by how many people wanted to buy it—and Marshall's protégé, Arthur Cecil Pigou.

This was also when Robinson first became aware of the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes. Keynes believed that governments should intervene during times of economic recession and that they could improve the economy during these times by lowering taxes and providing citizens with financial assistance. These theories, which were called Keynesian economics, were developed mostly during the Great Depression (1929–1939). Keynesian economic theory would later shape the way that Robinson viewed economics.

Life's Work

Robinson graduated with second honors from the University of Cambridge in 1925. After living in India for several years, she returned to Cambridge and began researching economics more seriously. During this time, John Maynard Keynes was the editor of the Economic Journal and brought several economists to work at Cambridge. One of these economists, Richard Kahn, became Robinson's partner in economic research.

Robinson began supervising college undergraduates. This position was the first of Robinson's many academic posts at Cambridge. In 1931, she became a junior assistant lecturer, and she was named a full lecturer in 1937. She was also a fellow at Girton College and then Newnham College. She became a full professor at Cambridge in 1965.

Over the years, Robinson earned a reputation for challenging popular economic theory. During the twentieth century, capitalism grew in popularity among developed countries. Robinson felt that some capitalist policies were unfair, especially when these policies took advantage of poor people or countries. She believed that economic theory should be applied to real-world circumstances.

In 1933, Robinson published The Economics of Imperfect Competition. This book looks at how companies compete with one another and how a company within a particular industry might develop a monopoly, or complete control, over that industry. With this book, Robinson helped introduce the beginning of the monopolistic competition school of thought, which states that no company can be completely competitive or a complete monopoly.

During the late 1930s, Robinson was part of a group of economists known as the Cambridge Circus. Robinson's associates within the group included her husband, Austin Robinson, who was also a professor at Cambridge; Piero Sraffa, an Italian economist and a colleague of Keynes's; and Kahn, Robinson's professional partner. Robinson also published several essays and books during this time that sought to explain some of Keynes's theories. One of these theories was macroeconomics, which Keynes developed. However, Robinson felt that the theory was never properly defined. Robinson defined macroeconomics as "the theory of output as a whole." This definition was outlined in Robinson's 1937 book Introduction to the Theory of Employment.

In 1954, Robinson wrote one of the most controversial essays of her career, "The Production Function and the Theory of Capital." In this essay, she questions if capital is something that can be calculated and aggregated. This essay created an argument between economists at Cambridge and economists studying the United States. Robinson's position eventually won out, despite the practice of measuring and aggregating capital continuing into the twenty-first century.

Robinson was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times during her career, but never won it. She retired from the University of Cambridge in 1971 and was named an honorary fellow of the university's Kings College in 1979. Robinson suffered a stroke in February of 1983. She died on August 5, 1983, several months after a fall on ice left her in a coma.

Impact

Robinson took Keynes's economic theories and expanded on them by applying them to real-life situations. Her belief that economic theory should consider real-world circumstances and situations, rather than just mathematical equations, helped change the way that economists viewed the field. These beliefs were developed during uncertain economic periods in the twentieth century, beginning with the Great Depression and the economic boom that followed World War II and ending with the recession of the 1970s. Robinson's work caused other economists to take a more empathetic approach to economic theory at a time when both developed and developing countries needed assistance from their governments.

Robinson was recognized in 2024 when an official blue English Heritage plaque was placed on 44 Kensington Park Gardens in Notting Hill. This was the address Robinson lived at with her parents and sisters beginning in 1919.

Personal Life

Robinson married E.A.G. "Austin" Robinson, who was an economics lecturer at Cambridge while Robinson was a student there. They lived in India for several years before moving back to Cambridge. They had two daughters.

Bibliography

Arenson, Karen W. "Prof. Joan Robinson Dies at 79; Cambridge University Economist." New York Times, 11 Aug. 1983, www.nytimes.com/1983/08/11/obituaries/prof-joan-robinson-dies-at-79-cambrdige-university-economist.html. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Jahan, Sarwat, et al. "What Is Keynesian Economics?" Finance and Development, Sept. 2014, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 53–54, www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2014/09/basics.htm. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

"Joan Violet Robinson (1903–1983)." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Robinson.html. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Pasinetti, Luigi L. "Robinson, Joan Violet." The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Warren, Jess. "Joan Robinson: Economist Remembered with Blue Plaque in Notting Hill." BBC, 11 Apr. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68778371. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Whitaker, J.K. "Marshall, Alfred." The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.