ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Walras' emphasis on the general equilibrium theory. Some implications of his doctrine for the theory of costs and returns, but such "specific" doctrines play little part in his thinking. Walras' discussion of the productive factors and services is one of his most valuable—and least appreciated—contributions to the theory of production. One of Walras' great contributions to economic theory is the clear portrayal of the nature of production in a competitive economy. The chapter presents Walras' first explicit theory, which was based on the assumption that the technological coefficients of production are fixed. Walras was the first economist to show that under perfect competition, full employment of resources is compatible with the desire of each individual to maximize the return from his resources. Walras' theory of capital is another significant contribution to economics. There is some value in analyzing in detail Walras' restatement of the classical rent theory.
