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Harvard. Final exam from theory of production and distribution. Haberler and Leontief, 1942

 

 

According to my reckoning, I have now matched final examinations that I have recently copied at the Harvard archives to as many previously posted course syllabi/outlines/reading assignments as I could to date. Of course the pairings of exams to course outlines are not complete, but quite a few are and more will be coming in the future!

An outline with a list of items to be read for an intermediate/advanced undergraduate economic theory of distribution course jointly taught by Gottfried Haberler and Wassily Leontief has already been posted earlier. Below I have transcribed the final examination questions for Haberler and Leontief’s second term course from 1941-42. 

 

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Final Examination
Theory of Production and Distribution of National Income
Professor Haberler and Associate Professor Leontief

1941-42
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 1b

Answer ONE question in EACH of the four following groups:

(a) 1, 2, or 3
(b) 4 or 5
(c) 6 or 7
(d) 8 or 9

  1. Compare the theory of time wages with that of piece wages.
  2. Describe the circumstances in which the introduction of a minimum wage law can increase the demand for labor.
  3. Compare the Keynesian theory of wages with that of the “orthodox” economists and indicate the implications of the difference existing between the two for the general theory of employment.
  4. How does an entrepreneur determine the amount of capital which can be most profitably invested in a single plant?
  5. Compare the expected future change in the price level with the prevailing rate of interest in its effect upon the amount of the present individual savings.
  6. Discuss the difference between the marginal social and marginal private product from the point of view of the efficient organization of production.
  7. “An economic system can be unjust but efficient, it can also be just but inefficient.” Discuss.
  8. Analyze Professor Schumpeter’s theory of “zero interest” in a static economy.
  9. “A negative circumstance such as uncertain cannot possibly explain the existence of profit which is a positive return.” Discuss

Final, 1942.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, Box 6 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, June, 1942.

Image Source: Gottfried Haberler (left) and Wassily Leontief (right) from Harvard Class Album 1942.