30 Facts About Joan Robinson

Joan Violet Robinson was a British economist known for her wide-ranging contributions to economic theory.

One of the most prominent economists of the century, Robinson incarnated the "Cambridge School" in most of its guises in the 20th century.

Joan Robinson started out as a Marshallian, became one of the earliest and most ardent Keynesians after 1936, and ended up as a leader of the neo-Ricardian and post-Keynesian schools.

Joan Robinson Violet Maurice was born in 1903, a year after her father's return from Africa, the third of five siblings.

Joan Robinson completed her studies in 1925 but due to Cambridge University's refusal to grant degrees to women until 1948, she did not formally graduate.

The couple moved to India shortly after their marriage where Joan Robinson became interested in the relations between the British Raj and the Indian princely states and wrote a report on the subject.

In 1928, the couple returned to Cambridge and Joan Robinson started teaching in the early 1930s as a Junior Assistant Lecturer.

Joan Robinson crossed swords with the economist Marjorie Hollond, Girton's director of studies, over the teaching of economics.

Joan Robinson wanted to teach the latest economic theories whereas Hollond believed that they were as yet unproven.

In 1937, Joan Robinson became a lecturer in economics at the University of Cambridge.

Joan Robinson joined the British Academy in 1958 and was elected a fellow of Newnham College in 1962.

Joan Robinson was a frequent visitor to Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, India.

Joan Robinson was a visiting fellow at the Centre in the mid-1970s.

Joan Robinson instituted an endowment fund to support public lectures at the centre.

Joan Robinson was a frequent visitor to the centre until January 1982 and participated in all activities of the centre and especially student seminars.

Professor Joan Robinson donated royalties of two of her books to CDS.

Joan Robinson made several trips to China, reporting her observations and analyses in China: An Economic Perspective, The Cultural Revolution in China, and Economic Management in China, in which she praised the Cultural Revolution.

Joan Robinson slept in a small unheated hut at the bottom of her garden all year round.

In 1933, her book The Economics of Imperfect Competition, Joan Robinson coined the term "monopsony", which is used to describe the buyer converse of a seller monopoly.

Joan Robinson used monopsony to describe the wage gap between women and men workers of equal productivity.

In 1956, Joan Robinson published her magnum opus, The Accumulation of Capital, which extended Keynesianism into the long run.

Joan Robinson was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1964.

Joan Robinson explored the philosophical foundations of economic analysis in her influential book Economic Philosophy, criticizing traditional methodological approaches and arguing in favor of a more diverse and interdisciplinary approach to economics.

Joan Robinson promoted a more practical and historically informed approach that considers the social and institutional environment within which economic phenomena occur.

In 1984, Joan Robinson was elected to the American Philosophical Society.

Joan Robinson suggested developing an alternative to the revival of classical economics.

Joan Robinson influenced Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which altered his approach towards economic policies.

Joan Robinson never received a Nobel Prize for her contribution to economics.

Joan Robinson was widely anticipated to receive the prize for Economics in 1975, and Rachel Reeves described her as 'the most famous economist not to be awarded the Nobel Prize'.

Joan Robinson's father was Frederick Maurice, her mother was Margaret Helen Marsh.