PHD THESIS SUMMARY: The psychological foundations of Alfred Marshall’s economics: an interpretation of the relationship between his early research in psychology and his economics

Alfred Marshall (1842-1924) was one of the earliest professional economists at the University of Cambridge in the nineteenth century, and a founder of the Cambridge School of economics which nurtured leading economists such as A. C. Pigou and J. M. Keynes. However, in his early research, before becoming a professional economist, Marshall explored what psychology had to say about the human faculties (1867-1868). The purpose of my PhD dissertation is to argue that Marshall's economics was greatly influenced by this early research in psychology. In brief, Marshall's economics is known for the partial equilibrium theory developed in Principles of economics (1920 [1890]). To Marshall himself, the fragmentary statical hypotheses which are included in partial equilibrium theory were temporary auxiliaries to provide preparation and practice for understanding dynamic economic phenomena. The main objective of Marshall's economics is demonstrating the organic growth theory of economy, which accounts for the mutual progress of human nature and economic society. There has been little attention given to the significant influence of Marshall's early psychological research on his economics. In this dissertation, I argue that Marshall's analysis of the mutual progress of human nature and economic society emerged from his understanding of the complementarity between the findings of psychological research and his economic concerns. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first study that proposes this argument. In chapters 2 and 3, I demonstrate the comprehensive relationship between Marshall's psychological research and his economics. In chapter 2, I focus on the existence of the relationship by analyzing human character in Marshall's early study of psychology and human nature in his economics. In chapter 3, I broaden the discussion by taking