Abstract
The method of given quantities, which Sraffa applies to the theory of intensive land cultivation, is adapted to deal with the case of an exhaustible natural resource of uniform quality. Such an extension requires the assumption of a structural change, consistent with the appreciation of the resource according to the Hotelling rule. It is argued that this approach possesses a limited theoretical scope, but no novel limitation arises in addition to those related to the problem of ‘square techniques’ which have already been investigated in the discussion of Sraffa'rs price equations.