Alexander Gerschenkron
Encyclopedia
Alexander Gerschenkron was a Russian
-born American
Jewish economic historian and professor in Harvard, trained in the Austrian School
of economics
.
Gerschenkron kept to his roots - in his economics, history and as a critic of Russian literature
. His early work concentrated on development in the Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe
. In a celebrated 1947 article, he found the Gerschenkron effect
(changing the base year for an index determines the growth rate of the index). His early work often pursued the statistical tricks of Soviet planners.
Gerschenkron also advanced the linear stages theory of economic development which posits that economic development goes forward in fairly determined stages. However, he did accept that different periods exhibit different types of development: for instance, with the coexistence of advanced and backward countries, that the latter could skip several stages which the former had to go through by adopting their advanced technology. This was illustrated by the peculiar paths of industrialization of Meiji Japan
and the Soviet Union.
Gerschenkron postulated that the more backward an economy was at the outset of development the more certain conditions were likely to occur during growth: consumption would be squeezed in favor of investment (i.e., savings) in countries starting from farther behind, and there was likely to be a greater reliance on banks, state entities, and other means of directing investment, among other conditions. He never exactly defined how 'backwardness
' was to be measured, though he alluded to a northwest-to-southeast axis within Europe
, with the United Kingdom
at the most advanced extreme and the Balkan countries at the least developed extreme.
Despite his roots in the Austrian school he criticized the "penny pinching, 'not-one-heller-more-policies'" of the prominent Austrian economist Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
when the latter was Austrian Minister of Finance and laid much of the blame for Austria's economic backwardness on Böhm-Bawerk's unwillingness to spend heavily on public works projects.
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Jewish economic historian and professor in Harvard, trained in the Austrian School
Austrian School
The Austrian School of economics is a heterodox school of economic thought. It advocates methodological individualism in interpreting economic developments , the theory that money is non-neutral, the theory that the capital structure of economies consists of heterogeneous goods that have...
of economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
.
Gerschenkron kept to his roots - in his economics, history and as a critic of Russian literature
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
. His early work concentrated on development in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. In a celebrated 1947 article, he found the Gerschenkron effect
Gerschenkron effect
The Gerschenkron effect was developed by Alexander Gerschenkron, and claims that changing the base year for an index determines the growth rate of the index.This description is from the OECD website :...
(changing the base year for an index determines the growth rate of the index). His early work often pursued the statistical tricks of Soviet planners.
Gerschenkron also advanced the linear stages theory of economic development which posits that economic development goes forward in fairly determined stages. However, he did accept that different periods exhibit different types of development: for instance, with the coexistence of advanced and backward countries, that the latter could skip several stages which the former had to go through by adopting their advanced technology. This was illustrated by the peculiar paths of industrialization of Meiji Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the Soviet Union.
Gerschenkron postulated that the more backward an economy was at the outset of development the more certain conditions were likely to occur during growth: consumption would be squeezed in favor of investment (i.e., savings) in countries starting from farther behind, and there was likely to be a greater reliance on banks, state entities, and other means of directing investment, among other conditions. He never exactly defined how 'backwardness
Backwardness
An economically backward economy is defined as one which makes less progress than normal. USSR leader Gorbachev once said “If you don’t move forward, sooner or later you begin to move backward.” The backwardness model is a theory of economic growth created by Alexander Gerschenkron...
' was to be measured, though he alluded to a northwest-to-southeast axis within Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
at the most advanced extreme and the Balkan countries at the least developed extreme.
Despite his roots in the Austrian school he criticized the "penny pinching, 'not-one-heller-more-policies'" of the prominent Austrian economist Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
Eugen Ritter von Böhm-Bawerk was an Austrian economist who made important contributions to the development of the Austrian School of economics.-Biography:...
when the latter was Austrian Minister of Finance and laid much of the blame for Austria's economic backwardness on Böhm-Bawerk's unwillingness to spend heavily on public works projects.
Publications
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1943). Bread and democracy in Germany, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California press.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1945). Economic relations with the U.S.S.R., New York.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander and Alexander Erlich (1951), A dollar index of Soviet machinery output, 1927-28 to 1937, Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander and Nancy Nimitz (1952), A dollar index of Soviet petroleum output, 1927-28 to 1937, Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander and Nancy Nimitz (1953), A dollar index of Soviet iron and steel output 1927/28-1937, Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1954), A dollar index of Soviet electric power output, Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1954), Soviet heavy industry: a dollar index of output, 1927/28-1937, Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1962), Economic backwardness in historical perspective, a book of essays, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1966), Bread and democracy in Germany, New York: H. Fertig.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1968), Continuity in history, and other essays, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1970), Europe in the Russian mirror: four lectures in economic history, London: Cambridge U.P.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1977), An economic spurt that failed : four lectures in Austrian history, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
- Gerschenkron, Alexander (1989), Bread and democracy in Germany with a new foreword by Charles S. Maier, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
Literature
- Rosovsky, Henry, ed., Industrialization in two systems; essays in honor of Alexander Gerschenkron by a group of his students, New York, Wiley & Sons (1966) ISBN 0-471-73674-0
- Forsyth, Douglas J. and Daniel Verdier, eds., The Origins of National Financial Systems: Alexander Gerschenkron Reconsidered, London and New York, Routledge, (2003) ISBN 0-415-30168-8
- Albert Fishlow, "Alexander Gerschenkron: A Latecomer Who Emerged Victorious", a review of Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective at EH.net (2003)
- Oscar Gass, "Russian Economic Development", New York Review of Books, vol. I no. 1 (February 1, 1963)
- Dawidoff, Nicholas, The Fly-Swatter: Portrait of an Exceptional Character, New York, Vintage (2003) ISBN 0-375-70006-4