Sraffa on non-self-replacing systems: a note

Abstract

Abstract In two passages of Production of Commodities, Sraffa states very concisely that the analysis presented also applies to viable economic systems in which the means of production consumed are not fully replaced. This aspect of the book has been nearly ignored for a long time, and, only in the last two decades have some scholars begun to discuss it in depth. These scholars, however, base their discussion on the terse references to non-self-replacing systems appearing in Sraffa’s published works—except for a single author, who also takes into account three brief passages drawn from Sraffa’s manuscripts. In the present note, we carry out instead an exhaustive examination of the unpublished manuscripts in order to ascertain as accurately as possible what exactly Sraffa’s position was concerning the nature and relevance of non-self-replacing systems. In the light of this examination, we briefly comment in the final section on some debatable aspects of current renditions of Sraffa’s theory.