Malinvaud (2003) observed that once techniques are ranked according to Hick’s concept of average period for a given rate of interest, a rise in the latter entails the use of a technique with a shorter average period. After a reconstruction of Malinvaud’s argument, it is shown that the result...

The paper addresses the ambiguity that surrounds the conception of capital and its role in neoclassical price-and-distribution theory. The difficulties encountered in the various attempts to define the marginal product either of capital or of a capital good are recalled and the conclusion is...