Having a fresh Ph.D. in hand and starting his first year at the rank of assistant professor of economics at Harvard in the Fall term of 1955-56, John R. Meyer offered a graduate course in applied econometrics based largely on his Ph.D. thesis work. A course description, outline, and reading list for “Quantitative Research on the Behavior of the Firm” are transcribed below.
Information on Meyer’s brillian future career can be found at the following links:
Edward L. Glaeser’s tribute to John R. Meyer.
Obituary from the Boston Globe.
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Harvard Ph.D. in Economics, 1955
John Robert Meyer, A. B. (Univ. of Washington) 1960.
Special Field, Statistical Method and its Application. Thesis, “Business Motivation and the Investment Decision: an Econometric Study of Postwar Investment Patterns in the Manufacturing Sector.”
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1965-1955, p. 285.
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Course Announcement
Economics 222. Quantitative Research on the Behavior of the Firm
Half-course (fall term). M., W., F., at 9. Assistant Professor J. R. Meyer.
Use of statistical inference and other quantitative methods (e.g. interviews and questionnaires) in determining business motivation and behavior as this relates to-dividend, investment, pricing, financial, and similar policy decisions of the firm. The relevance to public policy and the possibilities for further research.
Prerequisite: Economics 221a and 221b or 221c.
Source: Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1955-56. Official Register of Harvard University Vol. LII, No. 20 (August 31, 1955), p. 92
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Course Enrollment
[Economics] Quantitative Research on the Behavior of the Firm. Assistant Professor J. R. Meyer. Half course.
(Fall) 7 Graduates.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1955-56, p. 79.
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Course Outline
Fall Term, 1955-56
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 222
Quantitative Studies
on the Behavior of the Business Firm
Sept. 26. Introduction.
Sept. 28, 30. A Survey of the Problems involved in Statistical Measurement of Cost and Production Functions.
Oct. 3. Interdependence, Multicollinearity, and a General Introduction to the Problems and Concepts of Multivariate Analysis.
Oct. 5. Principle Component Analysis.
Oct. 7. Principle Components as an Alternative to Confluence Analysis in Detecting Multicollinearity (using the Cobb Douglas Production Function as an Illustrative Case).
Oct. 14. Railroad Cost Analyses as an Illustrative Example of Statistical Measurement of Costs: I, The Historical Origins and Importance of the Problem.
Oct. 17. Railroad Cost Analyses as an Illustrative Example of Statistical Measurement of Costs: II, A Critique of Present Procedures in Railroad Cost Analysis.
Oct. 19. Railroad Cost Analyses as an Illustrative Example of Statistical Measurement of Costs: III, A Presentation and Comparison of Empirical Cost Functions for Railroading obtained by Alternative Procedures.
Oct. 21. Discussion.
Oct. 24. Plant and Equipment Investment: The Three Basic Theoretical Models.
Oct. 26, 28. Plant and Equipment Investment: The Existing Empirical Evidence.
Oct. 31. The Statistical Analysis of Cross-Section Data: I, the “Size Problem.”
Nov. 2, 4. The Statistical Analysis of Cross-Section Data: II, Identification and Questions of Causation in Regression and Correlation Analysis.
Nov. 7. Discussion.
Nov. 9. The Combined Use of Cross-Section and Time Series Estimates in an Investment Study: An Illustrative Example.
Nov. 14, 16. A Suggested Application of Factor or Principle Component Analysis to an Empirical Investigation of Investment Motivation.
Nov. 18. Discussion.
Nov. 21. The Accuracy of Survey Estimates of Investment Outlay.
Nov. 23. A Critique of Present Investment Surveys from the Standpoint of Statistical Sampling Technique.
Nov. 25. Discussion.
Nov. 28. The Financial Policy of Corporations: I, The Institutional Pattern of Conservation.
Nov. 30. The Financial Policy of Corporations: II, The Effect of Taxes.
Dec. 2. The Determination of Dividend Levels.
Dec. 5. Discriminator Analysis and a Possible Application in the Study of Dividend Behavior.
Dec. 7, 9 The Inter-relationships between Financial Policy and Investment Outlays.
Dec. 12. Discussion.
Dec. 14. The Holding of Business Inventories: The Present State of Empirical Knowledge.
Dec. 16. Some Possible Relationships between Liquidity, Trade Credit, and Inventory Levels.
Dec. 19. Horizontal Integration in Manufacturing and the Holding of Wholesale and Retail Inventories.
Dec. 22. Summary and Discussion.
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Reading List
Economics 222
Fall, 1955
I. Cost and Production Functions
A. Required
G.H. Borts, “Production Relations in the Railway Industry,” Econometrica, January 1952, pp. 71-79.
J. Dean, “Department Store Cost Functions,” Studies in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics, U. of Chicago Press, 1942, pp. 222-254.
P.H. Douglas, “Are There laws of Production?,” American Economics Review, March 1948, pp. 1-41.
Interstate Commerce Commission Bureau of Accts., Cost Finding and Valuation, Explanation of Rail Cost Finding Procedures and Principles Relating to the Use of Costs, Washington, D.C., November 1954, pp. 27-87.
H. Mendershausen, “On the Significance of Professor Douglas’ Production Function,” Econometrica, April 1938, pp. 143-153.
Caheb Smith, “The Cost-Output Relation for the U.S, Steel Corporation,” Review of Economics and Statistics, November 1942, pp. 166-176.
T.O, Yntema, An Analysis of Steel Prices, Volume and Costs Controlling Limitations on Price Reductions, U.S. Steel TNEC Papers, (Pamphlet No. 6) pp. 231-302.
B. Recommended
J.M. Clark, Studies in the Economics of Overhead Costs, U. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1923, pp. 258-317.
Committee on Price Determination for the Conference on Price Research, Cost Behavior and Price Policy, NBER, New York, 1943, pp. 80-115, 291-301, 219-263, 321-329.
J. Dean, Statistical Cost Functions of a Hosiery Mill, Studies in Business Administration, U. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1941.
J. Dean, Statistical Determination of Costs with Special Reference to Marginal Costs, U. of Chicago Business Studies, Vol. VII, #1.
J. Dean, The Relation of Cost to Output for a Leather Belt Shop, NBER Tech Paper 2, New York, 1941.
D. Durand, “Some Thoughts on Marginal Productivity, with Special Reference to Professor Douglas’ Analysis,” Journal of Political Economy, December 1937, pp. 740-758.
F.K. Edwards, “Application of Market Pricing Factors in the Division of Traffic According to Principles of Economy und Fitness,” American Economic Review, May 1955, pp. 621-632.
M. Ezekiel and K.H, Wylie, “Cost Functions for the Steel Industry,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, March 1941, pp. 91-108.
J. Mosak, “Some Theoretical Implications of the Statistical Analysis of Demand and Cost Functions for Steel,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, March 1941.
W.H. Nicholls, Labor Productivity Functions in Meat Packing, U. of Chicago Pres, Chicago 1948.
H. Starkle, “The Measurement of Statistical Cost Functions: An Appraisal of Some Recent Contributions,” American Economic Review, June 1942.
II. Plant and Equipment Investment
A. Required
P.N.S. Andrews and J.E. Meade, “Summary of Replies to Questions on the Effects of Interest Rates,” Oxford Economic Papers, 1938, pp. 25-28.
P.N.S. Andrews, “A Further Inquiry into the Effects of Rates of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers, No. 3, February 1940, p. 3 ff.
H. Chenery, “Overcapacity and the Acceleration Principle,” Econometrica, January 1952, pp. 1-28.
J.M. Clark, “Business Acceleration and the Law of Demand; A Technical Factor In Economic Cycles,” Journal of Political Economy, March 1917, pр. 217-235. — also in Readings in Business Cycle Theory.
I. Friend and J. Bronfenbrenner, “Business Investment Programs and Their Realization,” Survey of Current Business, December 1950, pр. 11-22.
W. Heller, “The Anatomy of Investment Decisions,” Harvard Business Review, March 1951.
L. Klein, “Studies in Investment Behavior,” Conference on Business Cycles, NBER, New York 1951, pp. 23-303.
S. Kuznets, “Relation Between Capital Goods and Finished Products in the Business Cycle,” Economic Essays in Honour of Wesley Clair Mitchell, New York, 1935, pp. 248-267.
R. Mack, The Flow of Business Funds and Consumer Purchasing Power, New York 1941, Chapter VIII, pp., 237-305.
J. Meyer and E. Kuh, “The Accelerator and Related Theories of Investment,” Review of Economics and Statistics, August 1955.
J. Tinbergen, “Statistical Evidence on the Acceleration Principle,” Economica, 1938; and Statistical Testing of Business Cycle Theories, League of Nations, Geneva 1938, Vol. I, Chaps. 3 and 5, and Vol. II, Chap. 2.
B. Recommended
J.S. Bain, “The Relation of Economic Life of Equipment to Reinvestment Cycles,” Review of Economics and Statistics, May 1939.
D.H. Brill, “Financing of Capital Formation,” Paper presented at NBER Conference on Research in Income and Wealth of October, 1953.
J. Ebersole, “The Influence of Interest Rates Upon Entrepreneurial Decisions in Business — A Case Study,” Harvard Business Review, Autumn, 1938.
J. Einarsen, Reinvestment Cycles und Their Manifestation in the Norwegian Shipping Industry, Oslo, 1938.
M. Ezekiel, “Statistical Determination of Savings, Consumption and Investment,” American Economic Review, March 1942, pp. 22-50 and June 1942, pp. 272-308.
G.H. Fisher, “A Survey of the Theory of Induced Investment, 1900-1940,” Southern Economic Journal, April 1952, pp. 474-494.
M. Gort, “The Planning of Investment: A Study of Capital Budgeting in the Electric Power Industry,” Journal of Business of the University of Chicago, 1951.
H.D, Henderson, “The Significance of the Rate of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers, October 1938, pp. 1-13.
Factors Affecting Volume and Stability of Private Investment, Materials on the Investment Problem Assembled by the Staff of the Subcommittee on Investment, Joint Committee on the Economic Report, Washington, 1949.
L. Klein, Economic Fluctuations in the United States, 1921-1941, New York, 1950.
L. Klein, “Pitfalls in the Statistical Determination of the Investment Schedule,” Econometrica, July-October 1943, pp. 246-258 and “The Statistical Determination of the Investment Schedule; A Reply,” Econometrica, January 1944, pp. 91,92.
A.D. Knox, “The Acceleration Principle in the Theory of Investment; A Survey,” Economica, August 1952, pp. 269-297.
W. Leontief, “A Comment on Klein’s Studies in Investment Behavior,” Conference on Business Cycles, 1951, pр. 310-313.
T.C. Liu and C.G. Chang, “U.S, Consumption and Investment Propensities,” American Economic Review, September 1950, pp. 565-582.
C.D. Long, Building Cycles and the Theory of Investment, Princeton, 1940.
A.S. Manne, “Some Notes on the Acceleration Principle,” Review of Economics and Statistics, 1945.
J. Meyer and E. Kuh, “On the Interpretation of Regression and Correlation Coefficients When the Data Are Ratios,” Econometrica, October, 1955.
Roos, “The Demand for Investment Goods,” American Economic Review Supplement, May 1948, pp. 311-320.
G. Terbourgh, A Dynamic Equipment Policy, New York, 1949.
Tinbergen, “Critical Remarks on Some Business Cycle Theories,” Econometrica,1942, p. 139.
III. Corporation Finance, Dividends, and Savings Policies
A. Required
L. Bridge, “The Financing of Investment by New Firms,” Conference on Research in Business Finance, New York 1952, pp. 65-74.
N.S. Buchanan, “Theory and Practice in Dividend Distribution,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1938.
J.K. Butters and J. Lintner, Effect of Federal Taxes on Growing Enterprises, Boston, 1945, pp. 1-134.
G.H. Evans, “Comment on Historical Series on Sources and Uses,” Conference on Research in Business Finance, New York 1952, pp. 28-34.
N.H. Jacoby and R.J. Saulnier, Term Lending to Business, New York, NBER, 1942, pp. 1-8.
A.R. Koch, The Financing of Large Corporations, 1920-1939, NBER, New York, 1943, pp. 1-8, 91-109.
J. Lintner, “The Determinants of Corporate Savings,” Savings in the Modern Economy (A Symposium), U. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1953, pp. 230-255.
F.A. Lutz, Corporate Cash Balances, 1914-43, NBER, New York, 1945, pp. 1-8, 17-29.
C.L. Merwin, Financing Small Corporations in Five Manufacturing Industries, 1926-1936, NBER, New York, 1942, pp. 1-6, 57-89.
D.T. Smith, Effects of Taxation; Corporate Financial Policy, Boston, 1952, pp. 1-140.
B. Recommended
E.C. Brown, Effects of Taxation: Depreciation Adjustments for Price Changes, Boston, 1952, pp. 1-18.
A. Cowles and Associates, Common Stock Indexes, Bloomington, 1939, pp. 43-44.
O.J. Curry, Utilization of Coporate Profits in Prosperity and Depression, Ann Arbor, U. of Michigan Business Studies, 1941
C.O. Hardy and Jacob Viner, Report on the Availability of Bank Credit in the Seventh Federal Reserve District, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1935.
L.H. Kimmel, The Availability of Bank Credit, 1933-1938, New York, NICB, 1939.
A.R. Koch and C.H. Schmidt, “Financial Position of Manufacturing and Trade in Relation to Size and Profitability, 1946,” Federal Reserve Bulletin, September, 1947, pp. 1091-1102.
L.F. McHugh, “Financing Small Business in the Postwar Period,” Survey of Current Business, November 1951, pp. 17-24.
L.F. McHugh and L.G. Rosenberg, “Financial Experience of Large and und Medium Size Manufacturing Firms, 1927-51,” Survey of Current Business, November 1952, pp. 7-13.
D.C. Miller, “Corporate Taxation and Methods of Corporate Financing,” American Economic Review, December, 1952, pp. 839-854.
J.L. Nicholson, “The Fallacy of Easy Money for the Small Business,” Harvard Business Review, Autumn, 1938, pp. 31-34.
R.S. Sayres, “Business Men and the Terms of Borrowing,” Oxford Economic Papers, February, 1940, pp. 21-31.
Securities and Exchange Commission, Sales Record of Unseasoned Registered Securities, 1933-39, Washington, The Commission, June 1941, p. 10.
Securities and Exchange Commission, Cost of Flotation of Registered Securities, 1938-39, Washington, The Commission, 1941.
IV. Inventory Investment
A. Required
M. Abramovitz, Inventories and Business Cycles, NBER, New York, 1950.
R.P. Mack, “The Process of Capital Formation in Inventories and the Vertical Propagation of Business Cycles,” Review of Economics and Statistics, August, 1953.
T.M. Whitin, The Theory of Inventory Management, Princeton, 1953, pp. 3-161.
B. Recommended
M. Abramovitz, “Influence of Inventory Investment on Business Cycles,” Conference on Business Cycles, NBER, New York, 1951, pp. 319-324.
M. Abramovitz, The Role of Inventories in Business Cycles, NBER, Occasional Paper No. 26, New York, 1948.
R.H. Blodgett, Cyclical Fluctuations in Commodity Stocks, U. of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1935.
J. Tinbergen, “An Accelerator Principle for Commodity Stockholding and a Short Cycle Resulting from It,” Studies in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics, U. of Chicago Press, 1942, pp. 255-267.
Source: Harvard University. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955-1956 (2 of 2)”.
Image Source: Portrait John R. Meyer, 1958 Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.