The Joan Robinson Prize, named in memory of Joan Violet Robinson (1903–83) is awarded annually to the best paper published in the Review of Political Economy by a young scholar (PhD candidates and scholars up to five years after the completion of their PhD).
The prize honours the legacy of Joan Robinson, a key figure in post-Keynesian and Cambridge economics. A student of Keynes, she contributed to the theoretical foundations of post-Keynesian economics as early as the 1950s — and stared using the expression ‘post-Keynesian’ as early as 1959, when she wrote ‘my research belongs to the field of what is sometimes called post-Keynesian economics.’ According to Fred Lee (2000), ‘In 1959 Robinson used the term in a chronological sense, but also to refer to her own theoretical work and that of her Cambridge colleagues, such as Nicholas Kaldor’.
In the early 1970s, at the invitation of John Kenneth Galbraith, she gave the Ely Lecture at the American Economic Association. After a few years of communication with Alfred Eichner, she played a crucial role in the institutionalization of post-Keynesian economics (Rochon, 2023).
Her seminal work, The Accumulation of Capital, remains a cornerstone in the field, addressing various topics such as production techniques, monetary issues and endogenous money, distribution, and growth — topics that continue to be relevant for post-Keynesian economists today. Her contributions to the ‘Cambridge controversy’ challenged neoclassical views on capital and distribution, revealing their theoretical inconsistencies.
The scientific committee responsible for adjudicating the prize for the best academic paper published by a young scholar will consist of one editor of the Review of Political Economy and two senior scholars from the journal's Advisory Board.
To be eligible for the prize, articles must be single-authored or if co-authored, all authors must meet the requirements of a young scholar. In that case, the prize will be equally shared among authors.
The award includes a financial prize of £1000, generously sponsored by Taylor and Francis.