The works of several great economists had at first a relatively small impact on the development of economics because they were born into an environment that was not ready for them.

Johann Heinrich von Thunen’s work is a particularly glaring case in point. The first edition of Part I of his magnum opus Der Isolierte Staat was published in 1826 and a second edition in 1842, while the first section of Part II, containing marginal productivity theory, was published in 1850. Translations in French, Russian and Italian followed soon, whereas English editions had to wait until 1960, 1966 and 2009. However, despite the path-breaking achievements contained in Thunen’s works, up until now their full content has not yet been secured, as Samuelson (1983) emphasized.