Joan Robinson made wide-ranging contributions to economic theory across several schools of thought. She coined the term "monopsony" in 1933 to describe a buyer's market power equivalent to a seller's monopoly, extended Keynesian analysis into the long run in her 1956 magnum opus The Accumulation of Capital, and contributed to Cambridge growth theory alongside Nicholas Kaldor. She also wrote influential work on Marxian economics and economic methodology.
What is monopsony and who invented the term?
Monopsony is a market condition in which a single buyer holds enough power to influence the price of what they purchase. Joan Robinson coined the term in her 1933 book The Economics of Imperfect Competition. She applied it particularly to labour markets, arguing that employers with wage-setting power could pay workers less than their marginal productivity, and she used it to explain wage gaps between women and men of equal productivity.
Why did Joan Robinson never win the Nobel Prize in Economics?
Joan Robinson never received the Nobel Prize despite being widely anticipated to win it in 1975. Rachel Reeves described her as "the most famous economist not to be awarded the Nobel Prize." Among all 93 recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economic Science, only 10 winners have been cited more widely than Robinson. Two explanations are commonly offered: ideological bias within the awarding committee against her public praise of Mao's economic policies in China, and sexist bias against women in the field.
Where did Joan Robinson study and teach?
Joan Robinson studied economics at Girton College, Cambridge, completing her studies in 1925. Cambridge University did not grant degrees to women until 1948, so she did not formally graduate despite finishing her work. She began teaching at Cambridge in the early 1930s as a Junior Assistant Lecturer and became a full lecturer in 1937. In 1965 she became a full professor and fellow of Girton College, and in 1979 she became the first female honorary fellow of King's College.
Which Nobel Prize-winning economists were students of Joan Robinson?
At least two students who studied under Joan Robinson went on to win the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel: Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz. Sen described Robinson as "totally brilliant but vigorously intolerant." Stiglitz described their relationship as "tumultuous" and left after one term to study with Frank Hahn.
How is Joan Robinson's monopsony theory still used today?
In June 2019, the United States Supreme Court cited Robinson's monopsony theory in its decision for Apple v. Pepper. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, delivering the majority opinion, ruled that Apple could be sued by application developers "on a monopsony theory." This was eighty-six years after Robinson introduced the term in her 1933 book.