Dear Yoshinori,

Kei Shibata made some novel contribution to the History of Economics by viewing economics from a Marxian perspective. Some of his novel thoughts that is available through English translation includes the following.

Views on Keynes.

Aiko Ikeo in his “A History of Economic Science in Japan,” Routledge, 2014, made three ideas stand out. The first deals with the Keynesian breakaway from the classical economists. Keynesian considered the wage rigidity as the critical point of difference. But Shibata argued from a more general point of view, which is that the differences is premised on the “attitude of Labourers towards the supply of labourers. (Ibid, p.207)

A second point of Shibata is from the effect of technology. The point is that technology may be labor saving/displacing. So, a simple model of income and employment should include the relation of overall employment to employment in the investment industry. (ibid, p. 207)

A third point relates to capital accumulation. Keynes does not argue from the capital accumulation standpoint, but from a relationship between saving and investment. Shabita introduce the causal link through capital accumulation thus: increasing in savings (or the propensity to save) would lower the interest rate and encourage capital accumulation. (Ibid., p. 207)

Further assessment of Shibata's contributions should include his contribution  to the debate between the Austrian economist Bohm-Bawerk, and Karl Marx. (see  Takashi Negishi, “Bohm-Bawerk and Shibata on  Power of Market,” Journal of Economics, Vol. 61 (1995), No. 3, pp. 281-299). One needs also to assess his contribution to general equilibrium theory of Walras and Cassell.

Thank you, Lall. It is astonishing that you can promptly cite the relevant papers that discussed Shibata's contribution.  

Here is my small contribution to this page. I made a list of Shibata's English papers. (This may not be exhaustible).   

Shibata's English papers:

Majority of Shibata's English papers are published in The Kyoto University Economic Review. It came to be now opened and accessible by Kyoto University Research Information Repository and JSTOR. Here are lists of all I could find.

Shibata, K. 1931 The Subjective Theory of Value and Theories of the Value of Money. Kyoto University Economic Review 6(1):71-93.

Shibata, K. 1932  An Examination of Professor Cassel's Quantity Theory of Money. Kyoto University Economic Review 7(1): 52-84.

Shibata, K. 1933 Marx's Analysis of Capitalism and the General Equilibrium Theory of the Lausanne School. Kyoto University Economic Review 8(1): 107-136.

Shibata, K. 1933 The Meaning of the Theory of Value in Theoretical Economics. Kyoto University Economic Review 8(2): 49-68.

Shibata, K. 1934 On the Law of Decline in the Rate of Profit. Kyoto University Economic Review 9(1): 61-75.

Shibata, K. 1935 On Böhm-Bawerk's Theory of Interest-Rate. Kyoto University Economic Review 10(1): 107-127.

Shibata, K. 1937 Some Questions on Mr. Keynes' General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Kyoto University Economic Review 12(1): 83-96.

Shibata, K. 1938 Capital and Subsistence-Fund. Kyoto University Economic Review 13(2): 55-74.

Shibata, K. 1939 On the General Profit Rate. Kyoto University Economic Review 14(1): 40-66.

Shibata, K. 1939 Further Comments on Mr. Keynes's General Theory. Kyoto University Economic Review 14(3): 45-72.

Shibata Kei 1941 Fundamental theory of capitalism. Unknown Binding 88 pages.

Shibata Kei 1943 Economic Theory of Planning. Kyoto University Economic Review 18(4): 19-41.

Shibata, K. 1952 A Reply on Prof. Furuya's Criticism. Economic Review 3(4): 330-331.

Shibata, K. 1956 Fatal Errors Newly Uncovered in Keynesian Theory. Kyoto University Economic Review 26(1): 13-42.

Shibata, K. 1959 Dynamic and dialectic theories of world capitalism. Unknown Binding 6 pages.

Shibata, K. 1962 A contribution to the theoretical study of monetary inequilibrium and economic growth. Science Council of Japan, Division of Economics, Commerce & Business Administration.

Dear Yoshinori and Lall,

 Yes, Shibata was a unique Scholar that was grown up in Kyoto under the influence of two big names, Hajime Kawakami (Marxist) and Yasuma Takata (Marx-critic). When I was affiliated with Kyoto University, I was entrusted by the daughter of Shibata (Junko Nagasaka) to select important books and materials from Shibata's private collections to preseve them in the University library. (It contains letters from Schumpeter, his reflection on war just after Japan's surrender, and obituaries in his funeral. But, from the eyes of a bibliographer, it is far from rich as economics library, since Shibata had to sell almost all of his Collection in the years of distress under the purge, )

   I dealt with Shibata's engagement in the wartime totalitarian reforms in "Economic Reform Plans in the Japanese Wartime Economy: The case of Shintaro Ryu and Kei Shibata", in Aiko Ikeo ed., Economic Development in Twentieth Century East Asia, Routledge, 1997. (pp.100-115)

   Such a historical description of Shibata's career culminated in Kuniaki Makino, Shibata Kei: Shihonshugi no chokoku wo mezashite (toward overcoming of capitalism), Kyoto: Mineruva Shobo, 2015. 234p. (in Japanese)

  Theoretical economists  maintained their interest in Shibata's attempt to criticize Marxian economics as well as the economics orthodoxy then.

  Takashi Negishi (1995) "Boehm-Bawerk and Shibata on Power or Market," Journal of Economics (Zeitschrift fuer Nationaloekonomie), 61(1), 281-299

.   Tadasu Matsuo (2010) "Average Period of Production in Circulating Input-Output Structure", Applied Mathematical Science 4(46), 2293-313.

   Dong-Min-Rieu (2009) "The Shibata-Okishio Connection: Labor Theory of Value and Rate of Profit", Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 31 (3) September 2009, pp. 325-339     

   In Japanese Atsushi Nishi published two articles under the influence of Matsuo (2010)  :

   Nishi, A. (2013) "On the Relation between the autoregressive pattern of input-output structure and the concept of average period of production: Shibata Kei's approch and Matsuo Tadasu's approach", Kikan Keizairiron 50(2), pp.89-76.

  Nishi, A. (2014) "On the Generalization of the Concept of Boem-Bawerk's Average Period of production to the Autoregressive Pattern of Input-Output Structure: Kei Shibata's Approach", Keizaigakushi Kenkyu 56(1), pp.48-70.  

   Bests!

Dear Kiichiro,

thank you for prompt post. It seems that we have now basic information on Kei Shibata.  I hope those people who have the chance to talk with Shibata will post memories about him.