Pietro Balestra (economist)
Encyclopedia
Pietro Balestra was a Swiss
economist
specializing in econometrics
. He was born in Lugano
and earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Fribourg
. Balestra moved for graduate work to the University of Kansas
(M.A in Economics) and Stanford University
. He was awarded the Ph.D.
in Economics by Stanford University
in 1965.
Balestra returned to Switzerland as Professor of Economics and Econometrics at the University of Fribourg
. He was also Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Dijon. In 1980 he was called to chair the Department of Econometrics at the University of Geneva
.
Balestra continued to be active in his retirement years. He taught at the University of Lugano until his death.
Balestra his noted for his contributions to the econometrics of dynamic error components models, in particular for the generalized least squares estimator known as the Balestra-Nerlove estimator.
Balestra was one of the initiators of the foundation of the University of Lugano. His outside connections were critical in gathering support from the Swiss science council. He was the first dean of the faculty of economics.
As the first treasurer of the European Economic Association
, Balestra was instrumental in gathering financial support for this Pan-European scientific society.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
specializing in econometrics
Econometrics
Econometrics has been defined as "the application of mathematics and statistical methods to economic data" and described as the branch of economics "that aims to give empirical content to economic relations." More precisely, it is "the quantitative analysis of actual economic phenomena based on...
. He was born in Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
and earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Fribourg
University of Fribourg
The University of Fribourg is a university in the city of Fribourg, Switzerland.The roots of the University can be traced back to 1582, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg. In 1763, an Academy of law was founded by the state of Frobourg...
. Balestra moved for graduate work to the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
(M.A in Economics) and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. He was awarded the Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Economics by Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1965.
Balestra returned to Switzerland as Professor of Economics and Econometrics at the University of Fribourg
University of Fribourg
The University of Fribourg is a university in the city of Fribourg, Switzerland.The roots of the University can be traced back to 1582, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg. In 1763, an Academy of law was founded by the state of Frobourg...
. He was also Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Dijon. In 1980 he was called to chair the Department of Econometrics at the University of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
.
Balestra continued to be active in his retirement years. He taught at the University of Lugano until his death.
Balestra his noted for his contributions to the econometrics of dynamic error components models, in particular for the generalized least squares estimator known as the Balestra-Nerlove estimator.
Balestra was one of the initiators of the foundation of the University of Lugano. His outside connections were critical in gathering support from the Swiss science council. He was the first dean of the faculty of economics.
As the first treasurer of the European Economic Association
European Economic Association
The European Economic Association is a professional academic body which links European economists. It was founded in the mid-1980s. Its first annual congress was in 1986 in Vienna, Austria...
, Balestra was instrumental in gathering financial support for this Pan-European scientific society.
Honours
- Fellow the Econometric Society
- Fellow of the Journal of Econometrics
- President of the Swiss society for economics and statistics
Major publications
- “Pooling Cross-Section and Time Series Data in the Estimation of Dynamic Models: The Demand for Natural Gas” (with Marc Nerlove), Econometrica, July 1966
- The Demand for Natural Gas in the United States. A Dynamic Approach for the Residential and Commercial Market, Amsterdam, 1967
- “On the Efficiency of Ordinary Least Squares in Regression Models”, Journal of the American Economic Association, September 1970
- “Some Optimal Aspects in a Two Class Growth Model with a Differentiated Interest Rate” (with Mauro Baranzini), Kyklos, 2, 1971
- Calcul Matriciel pour Economistes, Albeuve, 1972
- “Best Quadratic Unbiased Estimators of the Variance-Covariance Matrix in Normal Regression”, Journal of Econometrics, March 1973
- La derivation matricielle, Paris, 1976
- “A Note on the Exact Transformation Associated with the First Order Moving Average Process”, Journal of Econometrics, December 1980
- “A Note on Amemiya’s Partially Generalised Least Squares”, Journal of Econometrics, 23, 1983
- “Full Information Estimation of a System of Simultaneous Equations with Error Component Structure” (with J. Varadharajan-Krishnakumar), Econometric Theory, 3, 1987
- “Optimal Experimental Design for Error Components Models” (with Dennis Aigner), Econometrica, 4, 1988
- “Formulation and Estimation of Econometric Models for Panel Data” (with Marc Nerlove), in The Econometrics of Panel Data, L. Matyas and P. Sevestre Eds., Amsterdam, 1992