Straffa and Goodwin: A Unifying Framework for Standards of Value in the Income Distribution Framework

In this paper we show that direct links exist between Sraffian and Goodwinian methodologies in income distribution theory. In fact, Sraffa's Standard commodity approach and Goodwin's transformation of axes are shown to be different manifestations of the same structural approach. Both are brought under a unified framework in terms of transformations involving a transformation matrix of rank one. To obtain transparency Sraffa is shown to retain as much interdependency as possible while Goodwin sacrifies all interdependent structure. It appears that a central role is played by models related to closed models of input-output type.