Okishio on the origin of profits: a Sraffian perspective

In this paper we compare the explanations of profits put forward by Piero Sraffa (1960) and by Nobuo Okishio ([1967] 2022). The two authors may be said to be comrade-in-arms as regards their general outlook on the problem under consideration, with Sraffa following essentially in the footsteps of the classical authors from Adam Smith to David Ricardo and Okishio in those of Karl Marx. They are also united as regards their critical attitude towards alternative explanations of profits and especially of marginal productivity theory. However, there are also a few important differences between them.