Retrospectives: How Joan Robinson and B. L. Hallward Named Monopsony
追溯了“买方垄断”一词的起源，指出琼·罗宾逊虽在1932年著作中引入该词，但实际造词者是剑桥古典学者霍尔沃德，并探讨其词源及更贴切的替代词。
The term “monopsony” was introduced by Joan Robinson in her 1932 classic The Economics of Imperfect Competition, although she gives credit to classics scholar B.L. Hallward of Cambridge for the actual coining of the term. Even though the term has become widely accepted by economists, its literal meaning is more idiosyncratic than simply “one buyer” of a commodity or service. In this paper I discuss the etymology of the term monopsony and suggest several other words that would seem to be more appropriate for describing this market phenomenon. This feature addresses the history of economic words and ideas. The hope is to deepen the workaday dialogue of economists, while perhaps also casting new light on ongoing questions. If you have suggestions for future topics or authors, please write to Joseph Persky, c/o Journal of Economic Perspectives, Department of Economics (M/C 144), University of Illinois at Chicago, 601 South Morgan Street, Room 2103, Chicago, Illinois 60607-7121.