Douglas Seymour Paauw was a Harvard economics Ph.D. (1950) who taught courses on the economies of East Asia. Like many area specialists of his generation, he acquired his foreign language skills during his military service in World War II. He lived to the age of 98 and died in February, 2020. His Seattle Times obituary is followed by the syllabus, reading list and final examination for his 1955 course at Harvard on Chinese economic development.
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Earlier post on the Chinese Economy
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Obituary
Douglas S. Paauw was born December 13, 1921 in Hancock, MN and passed away peacefully at the age of 98 at home in Bellevue, WA on February 17, 2020. He grew up in Holland, MN and graduated from Pipestone High School in 1939. He received a BA degree from Calvin College in Michigan.
In 1948 he married Kaye Horan, daughter of long-time Congressman Walt Horan of Wenatchee, WA. This union produced two sons, Scott & Doug.
During World War II he served as a Chinese interpreter after receiving training in Chinese at Harvard University. Following his WWII service, he received a Master’s degree from the University of Washington (1949) and a PhD in economics from Harvard (1950).
He taught at Harvard until 1956, after which he taught at Lake Forest College (1956-1959), Nommensen University in Indonesia (1960-1961), Yale (1961-1963), University of the Philippines (1965-1967), and Wayne State University where he served as Chairman of the Department of Economics (1970-1987). He also served as Director of Research at the National Planning Association in Washington, D.C. for seven years.
Dr. Paauw became known as one of the world’s top experts on economic development in Southeast Asia. He worked in Indonesia, spending a total of ten years there after his first visit in 1954. He is the author of several books and many articles on Southeast Asian economic development.
Since retirement in 1990, he lived in Bellevue, WA. He was devoted to family, friends, his adopted country of Indonesia, and the game of tennis, which he actively played until age 90.
He is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Doug and Kathy Paauw of Redmond, WA, three grandchildren Alan Paauw, Carly Paauw Jerome, and Cindy Paauw, and two great-grandchildren, Aurora Kilcer and Violet Jerome. He is predeceased by his wife of 65 years, Kaye Horan Paauw, and his son, Scott, who both passed away in 2014.
Source: Seattle Times, February 23, 2020.
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From the Calvin College Archives
Douglas Seymour Paauw was born in Stevens, Minnesota on December 13, 1921. He received his B.A. degree from Calvin College and his M.A., Ph.D. from Harvard University. Paauw married Helen Kathleen Horan on September 10, 1948. He worked as a developmental economist and worked with government planning associations. Paauw’s work allowed him and his family the unique opportunity to live in interesting locations like Indonesia and the Philippines. Paauw eventually moved to the United States and settled in Detroit, Michigan where he accepted the position of Chairman of the Economics Department at Wayne State University. Douglas Seymour Paauw reached the status of Professor Emeritus of Economics.
Source: Archival Record at Calvin College.
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Douglas Seymour Paauw
Harvard Economics Ph.D., 1950
Douglas Seymour Paauw, A.B. (Calvin Coll.) 1946, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1949.
Subject, Economics. Special Field, Public Finance. Thesis, “Chinese Public Finance during the Nanking Government Period.”
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1949-1950, p. 198.
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Course Enrollment
[Economics] 113a Economic Development in the Far East: China. Dr. Paauw, Half course. (S)
Total 16: 7 Graduates, 3 Seniors, 3 Juniors 2 Sophomores, 1 Radcliffe
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1954-55, p. 89.
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 113a
Tentative Lecture Subjects, Spring Term, 1954-1955
Introduction
- Introductory Lecture
- A Birdseye View of the History of the Chinese Economy
The Supply of Factors
- The Supply of Factors: Land
- The Supply of Factors: Population
- The Supply of Factors: Labor
- The Supply of Factors: Capital
- The Supply of Factors: Entrepreneurship
The Utilization of Factors
- The Size of the Chinese Economy
- The Use of Factors: Agriculture
- The Use of Factors: Industry
- The Use of Factors: Industry (Manchuria)
The Institutional Setting
- The Development of Financial Institutions
- The Development of Fiscal Institutions
- The Development of Other Institutions (Markets, etc.)
External Relationships
- Foreign Trade
- Foreign Investment
The Development of the Chinese Economy
- Early “Industrialization Efforts
- Kuomintang Planning
- Inflation, Disruption and Collapse, 1939-1949
- Communist Rehabilitation of the Economy
- Communist Agricultural Policy
- Communist Economic Planning
- The Financing of Recent Economic Development
- Assessment of Economic Growth
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 113a
Reading List, Spring Term, 1954-1955
Wittfogel, K. A., “Foundations and Stages of Chinese Economic History”, Zeitschrift für Socialforschung, 1935 (in English).
Allen, G. C., and Donnithorne, A. G., Western Enterprise in Far Eastern Economic Development, Chapter 15.
Rostow, W. W., et al., The Prospects for Communist China, Chapter 12.
Abramovitz, M., “Economics of Growth”, A Survey of Contemporary Economics, Vol. II (B. F. Haley, editor), pp. 132-182.
Bergsmarck, D. R., Economic Geography of Asia, Chapters 23, 24, 25 (to p. 523), 26.
Usher, A. P., “The Resource Requirements of an Industrial Economy”, Journal of Economic History, Supplement, VII, 1947, pp. 35-46.
Jaffe, A. J., “A Review of Censuses and Demographic Statistics of China”, Population Studies, Vol. I, No. 3, December 1947, pp. 308-337.
Ta Chen, Population in Modern China, Chapters 1 and 5.
Spengler, J. J., “The Population Obstacle to Economic Betterment”, Proceedings, American Economic Review, Vol. 41, No. 2, May 1951, pp. 343-358.
Levy, M. J., and Shih, K. H., The Rise of the Modern Chinese Business Class.
Allen, G. C., and Donnithorne, A. G., op. cit., Chapters 1 and 2.
Liu Ta-Chung, China’s National Income (emphasize Chapters 1, 2, and 5).
Ou Pao-San, “A New Estimate of China’s National Income”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 54, No. 6, December 1946, pp. 547-554.
Chang Pei-Kang, Agriculture and Industrialization, Chapters 2, 4, and 5.
Buck, J. L., Land Utilization in China, Chapter 1.
Chiu, A. K., “Agriculture”, Chapter in China (H. F. McNair, editor).
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 113a
Reading List, Spring Term, 1954-1955
Part II
Ou Pao-san and Wang Fo-shen, “Industrial Production and Employment in Pre-war China,” Economic Journal, Vol. 56, September 1946, pp. 426-434.
Hubbard, G. E., Eastern Industrialization and its Effect on the West, pp. 181-205, 222-228.
Schumpeter, E. B., The Industrialization of Japan and Manchukuo, pp. 376-418.
Chang, Kia-ngau, “China’s Need for Transport,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 23, No. 3, April 1945, pp. 465-475.
Tamagna, F. M., Banking and Finance in China, Chapters 6 and 7, pp. 121-223.
Ting, L. G., “Chinese Modern Banks and the Finance of the Government and Industry,” Nankai Social and Economic Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 578-616.
Paauw, D. S., “Chinese National Expenditures in the Nanking Period,” Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 1, Nov. 1952, pp. 3-26.
Li Cho-ming, “International trade” in H. F. McNair, China, pp. 492-506.
Remer, C. F., Foreign Investments in China, Chapters 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.
Wu Yuan-li, “Communist China and Trade with the West,” Pacific Spectator, Vol. 7, No. 4 Autumn, 1953, pp. 404-418.
Fong, H.D., “Toward Economic Control in China,” Nankai Social and Economic Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 296-397.
Li Choh-ming, “Wartime Inflation in China,” Review of Economic Statistics, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 23-33.
Rostow, W. W. et al., The Prospects for Communist China, Ch. 13, pp. 237-255.
Paauw, D. S., “Economic Principles and State Organization,” Annals of the American Academy, Vol. 227, Sept. 1951, pp. 101-112.
Hsia, Ronald, Price Control in Communist China, Introduction, Chapters 1 through 8.
Chao, K. C., “Current Agrarian Reform Policies in Communist China,” Annals of the American Academy, Vol. 227, Sept. 1951, pp. 113-123.
Schwartz, B. I. and Paaw, D. S., “David Mitrany’s Marx Against the Peasant: Two Comments on its Implications for the Far East,” Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 1, Nov. 1952, pp. 47-50.
Barnett, A. D., “China’s Road to Collectivization,” Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 35, No. 2, May, 1953, pp. 188-202.
Rostow, W. W., et al., The Prospects for Communist China, Ch. 14 and 15, pp. 256-295.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1954-1955”.
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1954-55
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 113A
[Final examination. June, 1955]
- (2 hours) Answer two of the following:
- Prior to the Communist Period Chinese industrialization efforts were characterized by a series of stops and starts, backing and filling, advance and retrogression. Give the history of these efforts and the reasons for their failure to achieve the objectives of economic development.
- Given an analysis of the prospects for Chinese economic growth under the Communist growth model, including all relevant factors which you can draw from your study of the Chinese economy. The strengths or weaknesses of the models discussed in the course should be presented to support your conclusions.
- Outline the important changes which have taken place in the Chinese economy during the past 100 years, giving your analysis of the factors which precipitated these changes, their impact on general economic welfare and the structure of the economy and their implications for the rate and costs of economic progress.
- (1 hour) Discuss one of the following basing your discussion mainly on required course reading on the subject. You are expected to refer to the major sources supporting your discussion.
- Problems of developing “Westernized” business entrepreneurship in China.
- The growth and development of fiscal, monetary and banking institutions.
- Transition in the agricultural sector during the Communist period.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Naval Science, Air Science, June, 1955. Included in bound volume Final Exams, Social Sciences, June, 1955 (HUC 7000.28, Vol. 110).
Image Source: Harvard Square from the Tichnor Brothers Collection of postcards. Boston Public Library, Print Department.