I had to consult the course announcements for 1926-27 to be sure that the course description I found in the files corresponded to that announced in the following letter from Paul H. Douglas to his chairman L. C. Marshall. We can be reasonably sure that the fifth person participating in the course was the recent Columbia Ph.D., William J. Shultz. I come to this conclusion because there is a letter in the same folder in which Douglas strongly recommends hiring William J. Schultz [sic]. The correct spelling turns out to be S-H-U-L-T-Z, and there is a New York Times obituary for William J. Shultz who was reported there to have taught economics at the University of Chicago in 1926.
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The University of Chicago
The School of Commerce and Administration
July 23, 1926
My dear Mr. Marshall:
I enclose a brief and somewhat uninspired statement of a course on Wage Theory which I think may nevertheless serve as sufficient announcement to the students. Will you fill in the appropriate number of the course and the hours at which it is to be given? I would prefer two two hour sessions to four one hour.
I will meet with Millis, Stone, and Viner in the fall to get their cooperation in the matter.
With all best wishes,
Faithfully yours,
[signature by w] Paul H. Douglas
Paul H. Douglas
PHD-W
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Econ. 443
SPECIAL STUDIES IN WAGES
[1926-27, Winter quarter]
An attempt to frame a theory of wages and of distribution and to ascertain inductively some of the forces which determine the rate of wages. After a review of various wage theories, such as those of the marginal productivity, wages fund, discounted marginal productivity, subsistence, bargain, employment and vulgar theories, an analysis of the problem will be made in terms of the relative elasticity of the supply cures of the factors of production and of their curves of imputed productivity. An attempt will then be made to trace inductively in so far as possible the supply curves of labor and capital. The effect of wages upon the short-run supply of labor will be tested as regards a number of factors including: (1) the age of entrance into industry, (2) the age of departure from industry, (3) the proportion of persons within the active age groups gainfully employed, (4) hours of work, (5) absenteeism and turnover, (6) intensity of effort, (7) changes in skill, (8) immigration. The effect of changes in real wages upon the long-time supply of labor will also be tested as regards its influence upon (1) the birth rate in Great Britain and the United States, (2) the rate of net fertility, (3) the effective labor supply, (4) the percentage of unemployment.
If time permits, investigations will also be carried through on the probable nature of the supply curve of capital. After a review of the doctrine concerning saving that have been advanced by such writers as Ricardo, Senior, Mill, Cairnes, Sargent, Rae, Böhm-Bawerk, Laundry, Fisher, Cassell, etc., inductive tests will be made of the relationship between changes in the interest rate and changes in the amount of capital saved. The movement of the interest rate in Great Britain and the United States will first be studied. Indexes of capital growth in Great Britain and the United States in physical terms will then be constructed and the rates of change in the volume of saving will be compared with the rates of change in the interest rate. The probable supply curves of natural resources and of management will also be considered but because of reason of time cannot be investigated in detail. It is hoped that the work will make the probably nature of the supply curves of the factors clearer and thus help to establish a more inductive basis for the theory of distribution.
Each student will be expected to do some piece of research upon a problem connected with the general investigation.
Prerequisites–Economics 211, 240 and 301. Professor Douglas, in charge, with Messrs. Millis, Viner, Stone, and [William J.] Schultz [sic, correct spelling is Shultz] cooperating.
Source: The University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics. Records. Box 6, Folder 7.
Image Source: University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-05851, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.