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This book examines the intellectual legacy of economist Janos Kornai and explores his unique contribution to economics. It addresses the key themes within Kornai's work and shows how his ideas relate to the leading figures within economics. After highlighting the influence of Marx and Hayek on Kornai, his major contribution to comparative economics and analysis of capitalist and socialist economic systems is examined. How they fed into his conceptualization of hard and soft budget constraints and complemented his work on economic theory, in particular debates around Walrasian and Marshallian equilibrium theory, is also discussed.
This book offers insight into the work of Janos Kornai and his impact upon economics. It will be of relevant to students and researchers interested in the history of economic thought and comparative economics.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Janos Kornai's intellectual legacy: An Introduction.- Section 1: General assessment.- Chapter 2. Introduction to Section 1.- Chapter 3. In Janos Kornai's Memory.- Chapter 4. Introduction: A special issue in honoring Janos Kornai.- Chapter 5. Socialism and Kornai's revolutionary perspective.- Chapter 6. Janos Kornai's Intellectual Legacy.- Section 2: Kornai on Marx and Austrian economics.- Chapter 7. Introduction to Section 2.- Chapter 8. Commissioned editorial commentary: exchange between Amartya Sen and Janos Kornai on Karl Marx.- Chapter 9. The Austro-Hungarian Convergence through the Writings of Janos Kornaï.- Section 3: Kornai on Walrasian and Marshallian equilibrium theory.- Chapter 10. Introduction to Section 3.- Chapter 11. Janos Kornai and General Equilibrium Theory.- Chapter 12. The Relevance of the Marshallian Concept of Normality in Interior and in Inertial Dynamics as Revisited by G. Shackle and J. Kornai.- Section 4: Kornai on soft and hard budget constraints.- Chapter 13. Introduction to Section 4.- Chapter 14. The Soft Budget Constraint: A Theoretical Clarification.- Chapter 15. Soft budget constraint reconsidered.- Chapter 16.Soft budget constraints and predatory states.- Chapter 17. A Last Word.
About the author
Mehrdad Vahabi is Professor of Economics at University Sorbonne Paris Nord.
