A Note on the Lag in the Recognition of Cournot's Contribution to Economic Analysis.

Abstract

The article traces the long and slow road of Cournot's Recherches sur les Principes Math$8Ematiques de la Th$8Eorie des Richesses towards recognition of its value for economic theory. Until the appearance of the second edition of W. S. Jevon's Theory of Political Economy, Cournot, when not ignored, was generally the object of adverse and even derisory criticism; but the author also finds solitary and appreciative comments on aspects of his work, including those by L$8Eon Walras, whose key role in establishing the importance of the Recherches is stressed. It is also pointed out that this process was particularly slow in the English-speaking world.