THE COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF THE SIMPLE RICARDIAN SYSTEM: A NOTE

In a recent note, Bhaduri and Harris (1987) showed that a discrete-time dynamic version of the ‘simple’Ricardian system (i.e. Blaug's (1978) popular version of Kaldor's (1955-6) representation of Ricardian distribution theory, which includes linear agricultural productivity) can be endowed with an unstable stationary state, and that the system can also exhibit “chaotic” orbits (cfr. Collet and Eckmann, 1980), even if these phenomena cannot appear when the adjustment process is continuous. This stationary state does not necessarily have to be unstable. A slightly generalized version of the ‘simple’Ricardian system (we dispense with the linearity assumption) is used in this paper to analyse a number of meaningful special cases in which the stationary state is stable.