The following reading list comes from a Harvard course on the economics of education and technology offered by assistant professor Samuel S. Bowles in the spring semester of the 1967-68 academic year. Bowles was 28 years young then. Here is a link to his Santa Fe Institute webpage.
Only the pages of the syllabus with the reading lists were submitted to the Harvard library for the purpose of putting books on reserve. Not included were the couple of paragraphs of motivation/description for each of the seven sections of the course. I had to insert approximate titles for sections IV and VII and have put those words between square brackets.
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Most likely spot to find more course content
Samuel Bowles, Planning Educational Systems for Economic Growth. Harvard University Press, 1969.
[When you get an account with archive.org, it is like having an old fashioned library card and you will have access to this book for an hour at a time when it is not being borrowed by another user.]
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Course Announcement
Economics 151 (formerly Economics 177). Economics of Education and Technology (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Education)
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 9. Assistant Professor S. S. Bowles
Attention will be given to the economics of the education process, the theory and implications of innovation, the effects of education and technological change on the distribution of income and the role of education and technological change in economic growth. Relevant case studies and current policy issues related to the United States and underdeveloped countries will be considered.
Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Courses of Instruction, Harvard and Radcliffe, 1967-68, p. 124.
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Reading list
Ec. 151
Sam Bowles
I. THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME — RECENT U.S. EXPERIENCE
A. Batchelder, “Decline in the Relative Income of Negro Men,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1964, pp. 525-48.
*H. Miller, Rich Man, Poor Man, chapters 1, 2, 4-6, pp. 54-134.
I. Kravis, “Relative Income Shares in Fact and Theory,” American Economic Review, 1959, pp. 917-947.
R. Lampman, The Share of Top Wealth-Holders in National Wealth, chapter 1, pp. 1-26; also Table 97, p. 209.
(Supplementary)
*G. Kolko, Wealth and Power in America.
H. Miller, Distribution of Income in the United States.
II. EDUCATION AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME
- Education and Earnings
*H. Miller, Rich Man, Poor Man, Chapters 8 and 9, pp. 148-194.
- Education as Investment
I. Fisher, The Theory of Interest, Chapters 4, 7, 10, and 11, pp. 61-98, 159-177, and 231-287.
T. Ribich, Poverty and Education, Chapter I, pp. 1-17 and 23-32, mimeo.
G. Becker, Human Capital, Chapters 1-5; 7 and 8, pp. 1-123; 136-159.
- Equality of Educational Opportunity
J. Coleman, “Equal Schools or Equal Students,” in The Public Interest, Summer, 1966, pp. 70-75.
*P. Sexton, Education and Income, pp. 58-69.
(Supplementary)
*Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU), Youth in the Ghetto: A Study in the Consequences of Powerlessness, Chapter 7.
*J. Conant, Slums and Suburbs, Chapters 1, 2, and 3.
*P. Sexton, “City Schools,” in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, March 1964, reprinted in L. Ferman, et al., eds., Poverty in America.
- A Model of Education and the Distribution of Earnings
G. Becker, “Human Capital and the Personal Distribution of Income: An Analytical Approach,” mimeo, 59 pp.
- Education and the War on Poverty
B. Weisbrod, “Preventing High School Dropouts,” in R. Dorfman, (*) Measuring the Benefits of Government Investments, pp. 117-148.
J. K. Folger and C. B. Nam, Education of the American Population (U.S. Department of Commerce).
(Supplementary)
O. Lewis, “The Culture of Poverty,” Scientific American, October, 1966, pp. 19-25.
*Haryou, Youth in the Ghetto, Chapter 12.
C. A. Anderson, “A Skeptical Note on Education and Mobility,” in H. Halsey, J. Floud, C. Anderson, (*) Education Economy and Society.
III. TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME
- The Theory of Production and Distribution
M. Brown, On the Theory and Measurement of Technological Change, chapter 2, pp. 9-28.
*J. Meade, Efficiency, Equality and the Ownership of Property, Chapter 1, pp. 11-26.
J. Hicks, Theory of Wages, Chapter VI, pp. 112-135.
- Commentaries, Past and Present
A. Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book I, Chapter 1.
D. Ricardo, The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Chapter 31, “On Machinery.”
K. Marx, Capital, Volume I, Chapter XV, sections 3, 5 and 6, pp. 430-456; 466-488. (Pages refer to Modern Library edition.)
P. Sweezy, The Theory of Capitalist Development, Chapter 5, pp. 75-95.
R. Solow, “Technology and Unemployment,” The Public Interest, Fall, 1965, pp. 17-26.
(Supplementary)
R. Eckaus, “The Factor Proportions Problem in Underdeveloped Areas.” American Economic Review, September, 1955, reprinted in A. Agarwala and S. P. Singh; (*) The Economics of Underdevelopment, pp. 348-78.
- Making the Most Out of Technological Change
*J. Meade, Efficiency, Equality and the Ownership of Property, Chapters 2-7, pp. 27-77.
*National Commission on Technology, Automation, and Economic Progress, Technology and the American Economy, Vol. 1, chapters 1-4, pp. 1-58.
IV. [ECONOMIC GROWTH: MEASUREMENT, THEORY, PRODUCTIVITY]
- The Measurement and Characteristics of Economic Growth
S. Kuznets, Postwar Economic Growth, Lecture II, “Characteristics of Modern Economic Growth,” pp. 36-68.
*C. Cipolla, The Economic History of World Population, Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 15-58.
*E. Denison, The Sources of Economic Growth in the United States, Chapters 1, 2, and 3, pp. 3-22.
(Supplementary)
M. Abramovitz, “The Welfare Interpretation of Secular Trends in National Income and Product,” Abramovitz, et al. (*) The Allocation of Economic Resources, pp. 1-22.
*S. Kuznets, Modern Economic Growth.
*O. Morgenstern, On the Accuracy of Economic Observations, Chapters 1 and 2.
- Theories of Economic Growth
G. Winston, “The Power Growth Model,” mimeo, 18 pp.
*J. Schumpeter, The Theory of Economic Development, Chapters 1 to 4, pp. 3-156.
*J. Meade, A Neoclassical Theory of Economic Growth, Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-18.
- The Advance of Productivity in the U.S. Economy
J. Kendrick, Productivity Trends in the United States, pp. 3-12, 59-77.
(Supplementary)
M. Abramovitz, “Resource and Output Trends in the U.S. Since 1870,” American Economic Review, 1956.
R. Solow, “Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function,” Review of Economics and Statistics, 1957.
V. EDUCATION AND GROWTH
T. Schultz, The Economic Value of Education, pp. 1-70.
S. Strumilin, “The Economic Significance of National Education,” in J. Vaizey and E. A. G. Robinson, The Economics of Education, pp. 276-323.
B. Weisbrod, “Education and Investment in Human Capital,” Journal of Political Economy Supplement, October, 1962, pp. 106-123.
W. Bowen, Economic Aspects of Education, Essay I, “Assessing the Economic Contribution of Education,” pp. 3-38.
*E. Denison, The Sources of Economic Growth in the U.S. and the Alternatives Before Us, pp. 23-46; 66-80; 84-87.
T. Schultz, “Investing in Farm People,” in T. Schultz, (*) Transforming Traditional Agriculture, pp. 175-206.
(Supplementary)
T. Schultz, “Investment in Human Capital,” American Economic Review, December, 1961.
W. Bowman, “The Human Investment Revolution in Economic Thought,” Sociology of Education, Vol. 39, No. 2, Spring, 1966, pp. 112-137.
*B. Weisbrod, The External Benefits of Public Education.
A. Harberger, “Investment in Men vs. Investment in Machines: The Case of India,” in M. Bowman and C. A. Anderson, Education and Economic Development, pp. 11-33.
Carl Shoup, et al., The Fiscal System of Venezuela, pp. 406-409.
M. Bowman and C. Anderson, “Concerning the Role of Education in Development,” in C. Geertz, Old Societies and New States, pp. 247-279.
S. Bowles, “Sources of Growth in the Greek Economy,” mimeo.
VI. TECHNOLOGY AND GROWTH
- The Production of New Technologies
J. Enos, “Invention and Innovation in the Petroleum Industry,” in National Bureau of Economic Research, The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity, pp. 299-322.
H. Dickenson, “The Steam-Engine to 1830,” in Charles Singer et al. A History of Technology, Volume IV, pp. 168-198.
(Supplementary)
Articles by Peck, Mueller and Nelson, in National Bureau of Economic Research, The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity.
R. Nelson, “The Economics of Invention: A Survey of the Literature,” in Journal of Business, April, 1959, pp. 101-127.
J. Schmookler, Invention and Economic Growth, Chapters 6 and 7.
- The Spread of New Technologies
W. E. G. Salter, Productivity and Technical Change, Chapters 4, 5, 6 and appendix to Chapter 7, pp. 48-82, 95-99.
Z. Griliches, “Hybrid Corn and the Economics of Innovation,” Science, July 29, 1960, Vol. 132, pp. 275-280.
(Supplementary)
J. Habakkuk, American and British Technology.
- Technology and Growth
E. Denison, The Sources of Economic Growth in the United States, pp. 154-255.
Z. Griliches, “Research Costs and Social Returns: Hybrid Corn and Related Innovations,” Journal of Political Economy, October, 1958, pp. 419-431.
- Efficiency of Resource Allocation in Research and Development
R. Nelson, “The Simple Economics of Basic Scientific Research,” in Journal of Political Economy, June, 1959, pp. 297-306.
(Supplementary)
K. Arrow, “Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention,” in National Bureau of Economic Research, The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity, pp. 609-625.
VII. [ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION]
- The Concept of Efficiency in Education
H. Johnson, “Economics and Education,” in School Review, Autumn, 1957, pp. 260-269.
(Supplementary)
Project Talent, Studies of the American High School, Cooperative Research Project 226, U.S. Office of Education. Chapters 6, 9, and 10.
J. Coleman, Equality of Educational Opportunity, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Education.
- The Market for Educated Labor
H. Leibenstein, “Shortages and Surpluses in Education in Underdeveloped Countries,” in M. J. Bowman and C A. Anderson, Education and Economic Development, pp. 51-62.
K. Arrow and W. Capron, “Dynamic Shortages and Price Rises, The Engineer-Scientist Case,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1959, pp. 292-308.
- Market Solutions to the Problem of Efficient Resource Allocation in Education
M. Friedman, “The Role of Government in Education,” in R. Solo, Economics and the Public Interest, pp. 123-144.
A. Daniere, Higher Education in the American Economy, chapters 2 and 4-5 pp. 13-19, 33-55.
(Supplementary)
C. Jencks, “Is the Public School Obsolete?” in The Public Interest.
- Educational Planning
M. Blaug, “Conflicting Approaches to Educational Planning,” mimeo, 34 pp.
H. Johnson, “The Economics of the Brain Drain,” Minerva, 1965.
A. Daniere, “Rate of Return and Manpower Approach in Educational Planning” in Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration, Public Policy, 1965, pp. 162-200.
(Supplementary)
F. Harbison and C. Myers, Education, Manpower and Economic Growth.
J. Tinbergen, et al., Econometric Models of Education, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, 1965; An Experiment in Planning by Six Countries, 1966.
H. Parnés, Forecasting Education Needs for Economic and Social Development, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, 1962.
R. Hollister, A Technical Evaluation of the First Stage of the Mediterranean Regional Project, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1966.
R. Eckaus, “Economic Criteria for Education and Training,” Review of Economics and Statistics, (May, 1964), pp. 181-190.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1967-1968, Box 9. Folder “Economics, 1967-68”.
Image Source: The Boston Globe (December 5, 1969), p. 15.