Tag: Balassa

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Economics Programs Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins. Ten-Year Projects and Outlook for Department. 1968-1978

The following ten-year plan (1968-1978) proposal for the department of political economy of Johns Hopkins was most likely drafted by senior members of the department, though the precise author(s) is not clear from the document itself. The bottom line of this plan is a request to be allowed to expand the deparment’s faculty and graduate student body by by half and by two-thirds, respectively. Otherwise the department feared  the loss of its national reputation due to having a reduced scope and scale.

The plan is at least as interesting for its obiter dicta regarding e.g., air-conditioning, computer terminals, secretarial staff, etc. 

_______________________

TEN-YEAR PROJECTS AND OUTLOOK FOR
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
[Draft, 1967]

I. Introduction and Summary

The Department of Political Economy, like the rest of the University, has concentrated on small numbers and high quality in its research and instructional programs. It is our intention to continue that tradition.
During the early postwar period, this Department produced as large a group of outstanding young economists as almost any university in the country. Its small faculty included several of the country’s most eminent economists. Between 1958 and 1961 the Department was plagued with resignations of senior faculty. At the same time resources available at other universities were growing rapidly. As a result the Department lost its former status as a major producer of research and scholars. Since 1961, the Department has steadily been rebuilt and is again able to attract its share of outstanding faculty and graduate students. But the Department still suffers to some extent from the factors responsible for its earlier troubles: its small size and limited resource base.
The Department now consists of 11 faculty and 45 resident Ph.D. candidates.
The program outlined in subsequent sections is designed to strengthen the Department by increasing Its size and financial base, while still permitting it to reap the advantages of its relatively small size.
During the next decade, the Department should grow to about 18 faculty members, or about 50%. Its Ph.D. candidates should grow to about 75, or by about two-thirds. Such growth is essential to add stability to the research and instructional programs, and to permit us to cover the growing number of specialties in the subject.
Growth will be expensive. Faculty salaries and graduate fellowships will continue to rise. And no university can retain excellence, let alone improve its position, without substantial budgetary increases. Within a decade, the Department’s budget for salaries and fellowships should almost triple.

II. Immediate Needs and Plans

A. In 1967-68, the Department has ten full-time faculty members, one joint appointment with Operations Research, and one faculty member whose major appointment is in the School of Public Health. (A second joint appointment with Public Health was made in Spring 1967, but the appointee will be in Pakistan for two years.) We have two vacancies. One is a professorship, and results from the Department’s having been permitted to replace Professor Evans prior to his retirement. We have appointed a visiting Professor to this post for 1968-69. The other vacant post is an Assistant Professorship, created in the spring of 1967.
The Department’s full-time faculty ought to expand to about 18 during the next decade. Three purposes would be served by such an expansion. First, it would provide the Department with more depth in the central specialties of economic theory and quantitative methods, so that a resignation or leave of absence would not disrupt the instructional program. Second, it would permit us to make appointments in important specialties not adequately covered by existing faculty. The inevitable increase in specialization through time makes gradual expansion necessary. Third, it would enable us to discharge our obligations to the instructional programs in international relations more adequately.
The Department is now actively seeking funds for the establishment of a Center for International Economic Studies within the Department. This Center would provide a focus for graduate instruction and research in the areas of international trade and economic development. The Center would provide a major substantive focus for the Department in addition to its present focus on economic theory and quantitative methods. In addition, it would help to fill a pressing social need, since the development of poor countries is perhaps the most pressing social problem of our time. Finally, it would permit us to exploit the unique advantages of the University’s proximity to Washington.
Although we are now strong in international economics, we are weak in economic development. Hence, a specialist in economic development is our most pressing need in terms of our proposed Center, our own graduate program, and our participation in the international relations programs. Our next highest priority is in the area of industrial organization, in which we now offer only one course in alternate years. Other fields in which we need additional strength are economic growth, public finance, private finance, econometrics, managerial economics, and Soviet-type economics.
Our needs are not equally urgent in all these areas. And not every specialty requires a separate appointment. Individual scholars often have interests in two or more specialties. Finally, the importance of particular specialties, and the interests of individual faculty members change gradually through time.

B. The most important research facilities for the Economics Department are the library and computational facilities. In both cases, the special needs of the Department will make it increasingly important in the coming decade to supplement the facilities available to the University as a whole.
For many years the Department has felt the need for a workroom where copies of major journals and reference books could be kept. In an important sense, the technical journals and data sources play the role in economics that the laboratory plays in an experimental. science. The movement of the library from Gilman Hall has imposed a major burden on faculty in the Department. In addition, faculty and graduate students in economics are now sufficiently numerous that duplicate copies of major journals are essential. We have made a small beginning toward meeting our library needs by establishing a workroom in our new quarters. A very limited number of journals is being purchased from research funds. In the coming years it will be important to expand the number of journals in our workroom, and to add major reference and data volumes. If a new social science building is constructed, or if the Department is able to expand its quarters as a result of the construction of a humanities building, a departmental library should be a major planning item.
The Department now has 6 desk calculators for use by faculty and students. Most are old and should be replaced with more modern machines within a few years. In the next decade we should at least double the number of calculators available. Some of our faculty now make frequent use of one or more of the real time-saving consoles located around the University. Within a short time, it will be important for the Department to have one or more such consoles in or near the Department area.
The Department now has two full-time and one half-time secretary. The half-time secretary is financed from research funds. Within a year or two she will need to be full time. Within a decade we will probably need five full-time secretaries. We need one additional electric typewriter this fall, and at least three modern tape recorders. During the coming years wo will need several additional typewriters and recorders, and other minor items of office equipment.

C. In the spring of 1967, we substantially revised both our undergraduate and graduate curricula. At the undergraduate level, the major change was to permit most courses to be taken after only two semesters economic theory rather than three as was previously required. This opened up, several courses in the Department to international relations majors and others outside the economics major. At the graduate level, the major change was to provide a more concentrated and integrated program in economic theory for first-year Ph.D. candidates.
During the last few years, the number of undergraduate registrations in economics courses has grown much more rapidly than the undergraduate student body. This is shown in the following table of selected registrations.

1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67
18.1 241 339 351 358
18.2 50 85 121 107
18.3 50 79 94 108
18.301-302 51 56 52 74
Total 392 559 618 647

This has necessitated our giving some courses each semester which were previously given in alternate semesters. Presumably, future growth in undergraduate registrations will more nearly approximate the growth in the student body. During the next few years our major need at the undergraduate level is to add a few specialized courses that will be available to students with a limited background in economics. Planned economics and urban economics are examples of such courses.
Our Ph.D. program is now too small. We do not have enough students to justify graduate courses in specialties which should be covered in a high quality graduate program, and we do not have enough faculty to offer the courses. We thus need to expand the graduate enrollment and the faculty simultaneously in order to be able to fill gaps in our graduate program in areas such as economic development, fiscal policy and industrial organization.

D. This Department is far smaller than any other major graduate department in economics. The next smallest, Princeton, is approximately the size that our projections indicate we will be in 10 years. Others are much larger.
We do not aspire to match the size and growth of most of the departments with which we compete for faculty and graduate students. We are firmly convinced of the advantages of smallness. But until very recently our size was almost below that required for viability. And we see clear advantages in some further growth, which would still retain the benefits of our relatively small size.

III. In this section I will discuss the undergraduate and graduate instructional programs, and faculty research activities in that order.

Undergraduates can either concentrate or major in economics. Although there is some tendency for better students to major rather than concentrate, some very able students choose the less intensive program. A stronger tendency is for those whose goal is a Ph.D. program in economics to major, and for others to concentrate.
An average senior class contains about 15 concentrators in economics. Some of these graduates take jobs, but many go to graduate school in business, law and economics.
An average senior class contains about 10 majors in economics. Although a few majors take jobs upon graduation, most attend graduate school in economics or business. And the program is designed with this group in mind. In recent years, our majors have undertaken successful graduate study at Chicago, Stanford, M.I.T., Johns Hopkins and other leading institutions. The Department’s requirements of a major include four semesters of economic theory, economic history, a year of statistics, a year of mathematics, a senior essay, and work on one or more advanced fields. We feel that our majors are as well prepared for graduate study as those at any university in the country.
For many years, the goal of our Ph.D. program has been to provide thorough training in economic theory, quantitative methods, and a small number of substantive fields to a small group of high quality students, most of whom intend to enter teaching and research posts. In the years 1950-1966, 63 people received the Ph.D. for work in this Department. This comes to 3.7 per year, but there is a slight upward trend, and we have given about five per year in recent years. Among them are some of the leading academic economists of the postwar generation. Our graduates hold posts at Yale, Chicago, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin and other leading United States universities. They also hold major academic posts in the U.K., Israel, Japan and Australia.
In the early postwar period, Johns Hopkins had among its Ph.D. candidates more than its share of the best students who studied economics. This resulted from the high quality of the faculty, the small and personal nature of the Ph.D. program, and the ability of the Department to offer fellowships that were larger than those offered by competing institutions. In the late 1950’s, this situation changed, partly because of the loss of most of the Department’s senior faculty. Since 1981, the Department has been substantially rebuilt; and is again among the leading economics departments in this country. We have greatly improved the quality of the student body, and are now getting about our share of the best graduate students, but we have not regained our former edge. To do so is the goal of the plans outlined in other sections of this report.
In the Political Economy Department, as elsewhere in the University, most faculty research is basic rather than applied. Within that framework, however, a wide spectrum of subjects and techniques is encompassed. Some of the research is purely theoretical, employing mathematical and logical tools to improve our understanding of economic phenomenon. Most of the research, however, is quantitative, employing not only economic theory but also statistical methods and data.

IV. Relationship to the Hopkins community

A. At the undergraduate level, the enrollment in economics courses has grown rapidly in recent years. Nearly every undergraduate now takes at least one economics course. And for several years we have had more than a hundred students per year in each of our second and third courses in economic theory. About 50 students per year enroll in our course in current economic problems. In 1967-68, the Department will offer 11 semester courses at the 0-99 level, and 13 semester courses at the 300-level, all of them open to undergraduates who are not economics majors.
At the graduate level our Ph.D. candidates frequently take courses in the Departments of Mathematics, Statistics, and Operations Research. Less frequently they take courses in the Departments of Political Science, History, Geography, and Social Relations. Frequently, 300- and 600-level courses in economics are taken by Ph.D. candidates in Operations Research, Environmental Sciences, Statistics, and Geography. Less frequently, they are taken by students in History, Social Relations and Political Science. Sometimes, students from SAIS take our courses in international economics and economic development.
In recent years, there has been a considerable increase in the exchange of graduate students between this Department and others for course work. We expect this trend to continue and feel that it should be encouraged.

B. The Center for International Studies will be established within the Department of Political Economy. However, many problems within the Center’s purview require interdisciplinary study, and we hope to use the Center as a vehicle for joint teaching and research programs. SAIS is the most natural partner for such ventures, but we hope to explore possibilities with Homewood departments also.

C. The Department takes an active part in the A.B.-M.A. and Ph.D. programs in international relations. We give year courses in international economics and economic development mainly for students in these programs. In our curriculum revision last spring, we reduced the prerequisites for these courses to make them more accessible to international relations specialists. We are generally pleased with our success in staffing the economics part of the international relations program. However, we feel a need for a major appointment in economic development before we can be fully satisfied with our contribution.
The Political Economy Department has one joint appointment with the Operations Research Department. In addition, wo have two faculty members in the Department whose major appointments are in the School of Public Health. The Department has no fixed policy regarding joint appointments. Those that wo have are successful because of special circumstances in which such an arrangement is in the interests of all parties. We expect that such circumstances will arise again. But we think it unwise to plan for certain numbers or kinds of joint appointments.

V. Instructional Program

A. The following table summarizes the Department’s instructional program in 1967-68:

Course Number No. of Courses Hours Per Week Credit Hours No. of Courses Hours Per Week Credit Hours No. of Courses Hours Per Week Credit Hours
0 – 99 5 14 14 6 17 17 11 31 31
300-399 7 15 22 ½ 6 13 19 ½ 13 23 42
600-699 11 23 — 12 24 — 23 47 —
Total 23 52 — 24 54 — 47 106 —

Each full-time faculty member except the chairman teaches two courses per semester. The chairman teaches three courses per year. All faculty attend the weekly Department seminar. Most faculty members will attend our dissertation seminar several times a year.
All courses numbered 0-99 are open to all qualified undergraduates, whether they are economics majors or not. All 300-399 numbered courses are open to qualified undergraduates and to graduate students from other departments. A few are not normally taken by Ph.D. candidates in economics. 600-699 numbered courses are open to graduate students in this and other departments.
It is difficult to predict future growth of undergraduate enrollment since, as stated above, we expect it to grow about as fast as the undergraduate student body, which we do not control. However, even in the absence of substantial growth in enrollments, there are several courses that should be added either at the 0-99 or the 300-399 level. These include comparative economic systems, corporation finance, public finance, and economic growth. Some other courses, now given only in alternate years, should be given every year. These include industrial organization, economics of education, and urban economics. Substantial growth in enrollments would require that we offer additional sections of some courses and that we offer some courses every semester rather than once a year.
At the graduate level, our intake of students has been between 10 and 15 for several years, resulting in a body of about 35 students in residence. We have now embarked on a conscious program of increasing the size of our graduate program; in 1967-68, 18 students entered and our student body is 45. Our intake should increase gradually over the coming decade to about 25, with a resulting student body of about 75. Seventy-five is the present graduate enrollment of the next smallest of major graduate programs in economics in other universities. Others are considerably larger. We feel that this growth is necessary to enable us to offer the range of courses now required for proper coverage of our subject matter.
Unless a major expansion of the international relations program is undertaken, we should not have to devote more faculty resources to it, once we have made the appointment we are now seeking in economic development.
Expansion of the faculty from 11 to 18 would permit the addition of 28 semester courses in the Department. The exact nature and level of the courses to added will depend on the interests of faculty members recruited, the interests of undergraduate and graduate students, and developments in the subject matter. However, we expect to continue the policy of devoting roughly half the Department’s teaching resources to courses numbered 0-99 and 300-399, and the other half to 600-level courses.

B. The Department completely reorganized both its undergraduate and graduate curricula in the spring of 1967. This reorganization permitted us to identify clearly the gaps in our program referred to in Section II. We feel that our only pressing curriculum need is now to fill these gaps. Major curriculum reform becomes necessary periodically in a developing discipline, but we have no plans for further reform.

VI. Resources Outside the University

The Department has no formal relationship with organizations outside the University. The Department does, however, benefit from proximity to Washington in several ways. First, proximity to Washington is an attraction to some actual and prospective faculty members. They may obtain data, attend meetings and seminars, and occasionally undertake paid consulting at U.S. Government agencies, international organizations, or private research Institutions. Second, Washington is an attractive source of summer jobs for our graduate students, and a few of our graduates take permanent posts there.

VII. Space requirements

In the spring of 1967 the Department moved into new quarters on the fourth floor of Gilman Hall. These quarters are an important improvement over those previously available to the Department. The new quarters consist of 12 faculty offices, a departmental office, a calculator room, 11 small cubicles for graduate students, a seminar room, and a workroom where recent technical journals are kept.
In terms of space needs, however, the now quarters are already inadequate. We now have 13 faculty posts in the Department, but only 12 offices. In fall 1968 we expect to have all 13 posts filled, and we will have the Hinkley Professor in the Department. We will thus be two offices short. In addition, we recently hired a part-time secretary. The Department office is adequate for only the two secretaries now occupying it and we have to house the new secretary in the calculator room. Within the next year the part-time post will have to be made full time, and the housing problem will be acute.
The ten-year projection for the Department will require major additions to the Department’s space facilities. Faculty offices will have to expand from 12 to 18. The secretarial force will have to expand to at least five, and that will require at least two rooms entirely devoted to secretarial use. The Department now has one seminar room. Virtually all our 300- and 600-level courses are held there and it is in use more than 35 hours per week within a short time it will be necessary to have an additional seminar room. Within ten years it will be important to have a third room that can be used for seminars, conferences and other meetings. Within the next few years we will need a larger calculator room. We already need additional calculators, and this need will grow as the faculty and graduate student body grows. In addition, we will shortly need one or more real time sharing consoles in the Department area.
It is clear that a building to house either the social or behavioral sciences is already overdue at Johns Hopkins. Despite all the building on the campus in the last decade, the social sciences and humanities – as well as statistics and various ancillary facilities are still all housed In Gilman Hall. It is virtually the only building on the campus that is not fully air conditioned. And the removal of the main library has worsened the situation.
The nature of this Department’s space needs would make it difficult, but not impossible, to satisfy them by regrouping the Gilman facilities if some other departments were to be housed in other buildings. A social or behavioral science building – which would include economics ought to be a major part of the 10-year fund raising program.

VIII. Tables and Graphs

A. The following table shows the undergraduate concentrators and majors in Political Economy for 1967-68:

Concentrators Majors
Juniors 5 10
Seniors 16 9

This table does not include the BIM students.
In 1967-68 the Department has 18 entering and 27 returning graduate students. We have no post-doctoral students.

B. Faculty

Edwin S. Mills – Professor and Chairman

Age: 39
econometrics, statistics, microeconomics
Research projects: [blank]

Bela Balassa – Professor

Age: 39
International trade, economic theory, comparative systems, economic development
Research projects: [blank]

Carl F. Christ – Professor

Age: 44
econometrics, macroeconomics, money
Research projects: [blank]

G. Heberton Evans, Jr. – Professor

Age: 67
economic history, history of economic thought, private finance
Research projects: [blank]

Herbert E. Klarman – Professor

Age: 51
economics of health, public finance
Research projects: [blank]

Peter Newman – Professor

Age: 39
economic theory, mathematical economics, economic development
Research projects: [blank]

Jürg Niehans – Professor

Age: 48
economic theory, money
Research Projects: [blank]

Frederick T. Sparrow – Associate Professor

Age: [blank]
operations research, microeconomic theory, managerial economics
Research projects: [blank]

William Oakland – Assistant Professor

Age: 28
public finance, money, economic theory
Research projects: [blank]

John Owen – Assistant Professor

Age: 35
labor, economic theory, education
Research Projects: [blank]

William Poole – Assistant Professor

Age: 30
money, macroeconomics, international trade
Research projects: [blank]

H. Louis Stettler, III – Assistant Professor

Age: 29
economic history, economic theory, statistics
Research projects: [blank]

C. As was stated above, the Department should grow from its present size of 12 faculty members to 18 during the next decade. We feel that the current division by rank — about half the faculty are professors — is about right. The following table shows a feasible growth pattern to meet the projected goal:

1967-68

 1968-69 1969-70 1970-71 1971-72 1972-73 1973-74 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77

1977-78

Prof.

 6 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 9
Assoc. Prof. 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

2

Asst. Prof.

 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 7 7
Total 11 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17

18

Our priorities among specialties were indicated in Section II. Beyond that, it is not possible to indicate which appointments should be made in which years and at which levels. Much depends on the availability of particular faculty in whom we are interested and on combinations of zfields in which prospective faculty are interested.

D. The Department is not persuaded that there is an important place for postdoctoral studies in economics during the next decade. Promising graduate students now obtain well-paid posts at universities with graduate programs and with relatively light teaching loads. Our impression is that it would be difficult to entice them to post-doctoral fellowships, and that there is little merit in doing so. Nor are we persuaded that there is a substantial group of young economists at small colleges who could produce significant books and papers if given a year off from heavy teaching duties. The only promising possibility seems to be to find a small number of young foreign scholars who have the Ph.D. or its equivalent, and who could spend a year here with mutual benefit to themselves and to us. The Department is not prepared to urge such a program at this time.

E. The accompanying table shows a projected ton-year budget for the Department of Political Economy. The personnel item includes base salaries and fringe benefits of faculty, secretaries and junior instructors. It assumes that faculty salaries will rise by 7% per year over the next decade. It also takes account of the faculty expansion projected in Section E.
The fellowship budget includes graduate fellowships, tuition and stipends, from whatever source. At present, some is University money, some is U.S. Government money funneled through the University (NDEA, NSF), some is fellowship money obtained by students with Department recommendations, and some is money obtained by students (mostly foreigners) entirely on their own (from foreign sources, U.S. State Department, foundations). This budget assumes that fellowships per student will rise by about 5% per year during the next decade. The table also assumes that the number of entering students will rise from 18 to 25, and the total graduate student body from 45 to 75, over the next decade.
The third line projects a growth of the Department’s incidental and telephone accounts by about 5% per year over the decade.
Excluded from the table are research funds for supplemental faculty salary, research assistants, or computing. No attempt has been made to project funds available from sponsored research or from University sources such as the faculty research grants fund.

1967-68

 1968-69 1969-70 1970-71 1971-72

1972-73

Personnel

 233,640 250,000 306,400 340,700 356,500 395,500
Fellowships 159,500 186,000 207,100 229,700 254,100

280,400

Telephones, Supplies

 4,000 4,200 4,400 4,600 4,900 5,100
397,140 440,200 517,900 575,000 615,500

681,000

1973-74

 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77 1977-78
Personnel 453,200 484,900 535,800 573,800

653,400

Fellowships

 308,600 339,000 371,600 401,200 432,800
Telephones, Supplies 5,400 5,600 5,900 6,200

6,500

767,200

 829,500 913,300 981,200

1,092,700

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Eisenhower Library. Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy [Records], Box 5, Folder “Planning Documents: 1938, 1965, 1967”.

Categories
Exam Questions International Economics Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins. International Economics Exams. Balassa, 1968-69.

 

This post is able to match the examination questions to the corresponding reading list for one semester of Bela Balassa’s international trade theory course that he taught at Johns Hopkins in 1968-69. Alas, the archival box did not have the reading list for the second semester, but at least the exam questions for the second semester, also transcribed below, give us a good idea of the main course content during the spring of 1969.

I am also delighted to have found a picture of Bela Balassa to replace the one I had found on a webpage that, as it turns out, happens to be of an entirely different Balassa (see note at the bottom of the post for details). Professor M. Ali Khan of Johns Hopkins tipped me off about the previous picture (used in other posts) not being quite right. 

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Note: the reading list for the fall semester course was transcribed and posted earlier.

EXAMINATION
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS 18.641
Thursday, January 16, 1969

Dr. Balassa

  1. Answer two questions (80 minutes)
    1. Discuss the meaning of the expressions “labor” and “capital” in the Heckscher-Ohlin framework and indicate the implications that the recent interpretations of these concepts have for the theory of international trade.
    2. Analyze the relationship between country size and the commodity composition of exports and imports.
    3. Discuss the applicability of alternative theories of specialization to trade among industrial countries.
  2. Answer two questions (80 minutes)
    1. Examine the usefulness of a general equilibrium approach to trade theory.
    2. Consider the implications of introducing intermediate goods in trade models.
    3. Show the applicability of the theory of duopoly and bilateral monopoly to the theory of tariffs.
  3. Answer one question (40 minutes)
    1. State briefly the Stolper-Samuelson and the Rybczynski theorems and indicate the relationship between the two.
    2. What welfare consequences can be derived from the following results if subscript 2 refers to the after-trade and subscript 1 to the before-trade situation:

ΣP2Q2 < ΣP2Q1

ΣP1Q2 > ΣP1Q1

____________________________

Note: the reading list for the spring semester course was not included in the collection of course outlines for the department of political economy in the Johns Hopkins University archives.

Final Examination
International Trade Theory 18.642
May 21, 1969

Professor Balassa

Give approximately equal time to all questions.

  1. Answer two questions.
    1. It has been customary to consider separately internal and external balance and to examine the effects of the use of various policy instruments on each. How can this be reconciled with Johnson’s proposition that “the balance-of-payments is the difference between aggregate receipts and payments in the domestic economy:”
    2. Reformulate the exchange stability problem if the devaluation is regarded as a transfer.
    3. Indicate the effects of a devaluation on the non-merchandise items of the balance of payments.
  2. Answer two questions.
    1. Examine the welfare implications of alternative means for attaining balance-of-payments equilibrium, including devaluation, restrictions on trade, restrictions on capital movement, and domestic deflation.
    2. Milton Friedman has recently argued that the introduction of the two-tier gold market has placed the world on a dollar standard and thus the United States no longer has a balance-of-payments problem. Similar conclusions have been reached by Depres-Kindleberger-Salant on the grounds that the U.S. plays the role of the world banker. Discuss.
    3. Discuss the implications of fixed and flexible exchange rates for national monetary and fiscal policies under the assumption of perfect capital mobility.

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy Series 6. Box 3; Folder: “Graduate Exams, 1933-1965”.

Image Source: Portrait of Bela Balassa in the Johns Hopkins University Yearbook, Hullabaloo 1976.

 

Categories
Johns Hopkins Suggested Reading Syllabus

Johns Hopkins. International Economics Reading List. Balassa, 1968

 

The content of the course titled “International Economics” taught by Bela Balassa at Johns Hopkins University in 1968 was actually limited to pure trade theory, commercial policy and economic integration. The reading list for Balassa’s other course at Johns Hopkins University, “Trade and Economic Development“, was posted earlier. 

___________________

Department of Economics
International Economics 641
Fall, 1968
Dr. Balassa

Bibliography and Reading List

Abbreviations of Books

Books are referred to by authors unless otherwise noted.

RIT, Readings in International Economics

RTIT, Readings in the Theory of International Trade

Balassa, B., The Theory of Economic Integration

Baldwin et al, Trade, Growth and the Balance of Payments

Caves, R., Trade and Economic Structure

Haberler, G., The Theory of International Trade

Johnson, H.G., International Trade and Economic Growth

Linder, S.B., An Essay on Trade and Transformation

Marshall, Money, Credit, and Commerce

Meade, J. E., Trade and Commerce

_________, A Geometry of International Trade

Mill, J. S., Principles of Political Economy

Ohlin, B., Interregional and International Trade

Ricardo, D., The Principles of Political Economy

Scitovsky, T., Economic Theory and Western European Integration

Travis, W.P., The Theory of Trade and Protections

Vanke, J., International Trade: Theory and Economic Policy

Viner, J., I, Studies in the Theory of International Trade

_________ II, The Customs Union Issue

Abbreviations of Periodicals

AER, American Economic Review

BOUIS, Bulletin of Oxford University Institute of Statistics

Econ., Economica

EI, Economia Internazionale

EJ, Economic Journal

ER, Economic Record

IEP, International. Economic Papers

JPE, Journal of Political Economy

Ky, Kyklos

OEP, Oxford Economic Papers

QJE, Quarterly Journal of Economics

RES, Review of Economics and Statistics

RESt, Review of Economic Studies

WA, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv

NOTE: The non-starred items are assigned, the starred ones recommended .

General Surveys

Haberler, G., A Survey of International Trade Theory, Special Papers in International Economics, No. 1, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

Corden, W.M., Recent Developments in the Theory of International Trade, ibid., No. 7

Bhagwati, J., “The Pure Theory of International Trade,” Economic Journal, March, 1964

Chipman, J.S., “A Survey of the Theory of International Trade,” Econometrica, July, October,1965, January, 1966

Caves, R.E., Trade and Economic Structure

Kemp, M.C., The Pure Theory of International Trade

I. The Classical Theory of International Trade

Ricardo, ch. 7

Mill, Book III, ch. 17, 18, 25

Marshall, Appendix J.

Haberler, ch. IX-XII

Viner, I, ch. VIII

*Mynt, H., “The Classical Theory of International Trade and the Underdeveloped Countries,” EJ, June, 1958.

*Vanek, J., “An Afterthought on the ‘Real Cost-Opportunity Cost’ Dispute and some Aspects of General Equilibrium Under Conditions of Variable Factor Supplies,” RESt, June, 1959.

*Walsh, V.C., “Leisure and International Trade,” Econ., August, 1959

II. Criticisms and Extensions of the Classical Theory

Williams, J.H., “The Theory of International Trade Reconsidered,” RTIT, ch. 12

Graham, F.D., “The Theory of International Values Re-Examined,” RTIT, ch. 14

Whitin, T.M., “Classical Theory, Graham’s Theory, and Linear Programming in International Trade,” QJE, November, 1953.

Ohlin, ch. I-VI, Appendix III.

Robinson, R., “Factor Proportions and Comparative Advantage,” RIT, ch. 1

Kenen, P.B., “Nature, Capital, and Trade,” JPE, October, 1965

*Metzler, L., “Professor Graham’s Theory of International Values,” AER, June, 1950

*Posner, M.V., “International Trade and Technical Change,” OEP, October, 1961

*Becker, G.S., “A Note on Multi-Country Trade,” AER, September, 1952.

*Kravis, I.B., “Availability and Other Influences on the Commodity Composition of Trade,” JPE, April, 1956

*Michaely, M., “Factor Proportions in International Trade: Current State of the Theory, ” Ky, 1964 (4)

III. Comparative Costs and International Trade: Further Developments

Leontief, W., “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” RTIT, ch. 10

Samuelson, P., “Social Indifference Curves,” QJE, February, 1956

Haberler, G., “Some Problems in the Pure Theory of International Trade,” RIT, ch.13

Isard, W., and M.J. Peck, “Location Theory and International and Interregional Trade,” QJE, February, 1954

Linder, ch. 3

Balassa, B., “Tariff Reductions and Trade in Manufactures Among Industrial Countries,” AER, June, 1966

*Lösch, A., “A New Theory of International Trade,” IEP, Vol. 6

*Posner, M.V., “International Trade and Technical Change,” OEP, October, 1961

*Grubel, H.G., “Intra-Industry Specialization and the Pattern of Trade,” CJEPS, August, 1967

*Matthews, R.C.O., “Reciprocal Demand and Increasing Returns,” RESt (1949- 50)

*Vanek, ch. XII-XIV

*Ohlin, ch. X-XII

*Meade, II, ch. I-III

IV. Comparative Cost Theory: Empirical Verification

Leontief, W., “Domestic Production and Foreign Trade,” RIT, ch. 30 and RES, November, 1956

Vanek, J., “The Natural Resource Content of Foreign Trade, 1870-1955, and the Relative Abundance of Natural Resources in the United States,” RES, May, 1959

Keesing, D.B., “Labor Skills and International Trade,” RES, August, 1965

Gruber, W., Mehta, D., and Vernon, R., “The R & D Factor in International Trade and International Investment of United States Industries,” JPE, February, 1967

MacDougall, G., “British and American Exports: A Study Suggested by the Theory of Comparative Costs,” EJ, December, 1951

Balassa, B., “An Empirical Demonstration of Comparative Cost Theory,” RES, August, 1963

*Comments on the Leontief-Paradox:

Ellsworth, RES, August, 1954
Swerling, RES, August, 1954
Valavanis-Vail, JPE, December, 1954
Buchanan, EI, November, 1955
Valavanis, Robinson, Elliott, Vaccale, Leontief, RES, February, 1958
Kreinin, AER, March, 1965

*Minhas, B.S., An International Comparison of Factor Costs and Factor Use.

*Moroney, J.R., and Walker, J.M., “A Regional Test of the Heckscher-Ohlin Hypothesis,” JPE, December, 1966

V. Factor-Price Equalization and Income Distribution

Heckscher, E., “The Effect of Foreign Trade on the Distribution of Income,” RTIT, ch. 13

Samuelson, P., “International Factor Price Equalization Once Again,” RIT, ch. 3

Johnson, H.G., “Factor Endowments, International Trade and Factor Prices,” in Johnson, ch. 1 and RIT, ch. 5

Balassa, B., “The Factor-Price Equalization Controversy,” WA, Vol. 87, No. 1 (1961)

Rybczynski, T.M., “Factor Endowments and Relative Commodity Prices,” RIT, ch. 4

Stolper, W., and Samuelson, P., “Protection and Real Wages” RTIT, ch. 15

*Lancaster, K., “Protection and Real Wages: A Restatement,” EJ, June, 1967

*Bhagwati, J., “Protection, Real Wages and Real Income,” EJ, December, 1959

*Pierce, I., McKenzie, L.W., and Samuelson, P., “More About Factor Price Equalization,” IER, October, 1967

*Samuelson. P., “Equalization by Trade of the Interest Rate Along With the Real Wage,” in Baldwin, pp. 35-52

*Jones, R.W., “The Structure of Simple General Equilibrium Models,” JPE, December, 1965

*Minabe, N., “The Stolper-Samuelson Theorem, the Rybczynski Effect, and the Heckscher-Ohlin Theory of Trade Pattern and Factor Price Equalization,” CJEPS, August, 1967

Travis, ch. II, III

VI. Gains from Trade

Viner, J, ch. IX (up to p. 565)

Samuelson, P., “The Gains from International Trade,” RTIT, ch. 2

Samuelson, P., “The Gains from International Trade Once Again,” EJ, December, 1962

Meade, I , ch. IX

Baldwin, R.E., “The New Welfare Economics and Gains in International Trade,” RIT, ch. 12

*Giersch, H., “The Trade Optimum,” IEP, Vol. 7

*Kenen, D.B., “On the Geometry of Welfare Economics,” QJE, August, 1957

*Kemp, M.C., “The Gains from International Trade,” December, 1962

*Vanek, ch. XV

VII. The Theory of Tariffs

Scitovsky, T., “A Reconsideration of the Theory of Tariffs,” RTIT, ch. 16

Metzler, L.A., “Tariffs, International Demand, and Domestic Prices” RIT, ch. 2

Johnson, “Optimum Tariffs and Retaliation,” in Johnson, ch. II

_________, “The Cost of Protection and the Scientific Tariff,” JPE, August, 1960

Balassa, B., “Tariff Protection in Industrial Countries : An Evaluation,” RIT, ch. 3

Corden, W.M., “The Structure of the Tariff System and the Effective Protective Rate,” JPE, June, 1966

*Meade II, ch. VI

*Vanek, ch. XVI

*Lerner, A.P., “The Symmetry Between Import and Export Taxes,” RIT, ch. 11

*Fleming, J.M., “The Optimal Tariff from an International Point of View,” RES, February, 1956

*Baldwin, R.E., “The Effect of Tariffs on International and Domestic Prices,” QJE, February, 1960

*Johnson, H.G., “A Model of Protection and the Exchange Rate,” RESt, Vol XXXIII No. 2

*Bhagwati, J., “On the Equivalence of Tariffs and Quotas,” in Baldwin, pp. 53-67

VIII. Trade and Factor Movements

Mundell, R.A., “International Trade and Factor Mobility,” RIT, ch. 7

McDougall, G.D.A., “The Benefits· and Costs of Private Investment from Abroad: A Theoretical Approach,” RIT, ch. 10

Corden, W.M., “Protection and Foreign Investment,” ER, May, 1967

Vernon, R., “International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle,” QJE, May 1966

Johnson, H.G., Comparative Cost and Commercial Policy Theory in a Developing World Economy (Stockholm, Alqvist and Wiksell, 1968)

Jones, R. W., “International Capital Movement and the Theory of Tariffs and Trade,” QJE, February, 1967

*Olivera, J.H.G., “Is Free Trade a Perfect Substitute for Factor Mobility?”, EJ, March, 1967

*Corden, W.M., “The Economic Limits of Population Increase,” ER, November, 1955

*Jasay, A.E., “The Social Choice between Home and Overseas Investment,” EJ, March, 1960

*Frankel, M., “Home vs. Foreign Investment,” BOUIS, August, 1960.

*Penrose, E., “Foreign Investment and the Growth of the Firm,” EJ, June, 1956

*Kemp, M.C., “Foreign Investment and National Advantage,” ER, March, 1962

IX. Economic Integration

Viner, II, ch. I-IV, VII

Balassa, B., ch. 1-12

Scitovsky, ch. I, III

Lipsey, R.G., “The Theory of Customs Unions: A General Survey,” EJ, September·, 1960

Spraos, “The Conditions for a Trade Creating Customs Union,” EJ, March, 1964;

Mishan, “Comment,” March, 1965; Spraos, “Rejoinder,” September, 1965

Johnson, H.G., “An Economic Theory of Protectionism, Tariff Bargaining, and the Formation of Customs Unions,” JPE, June, 1965

Balassa, B., “Trade Creation and Trade Diversion in the European Common Market,” EJ, March, 1967

*Lipsey, R.G. and Lancaster, K., “The General Theory of the Second Best,” RESt, 1956-57 (1)

*Dosser, D., “Welfare Effects of Tax Unions,” RESt, June, 1964

*Meade, J.E., The Theory of Customs Unions

*Cooper, C.A., and Massell, B.V., “A New Look at Customs Union Theory,” December, 1965

*Michaely, M., “On Customs Unions and the Gains from Trade,” EJ, September, 1965

*Flanders, June, “Measuring Protectionism and Predicting Trade Diversion,” JPE, April, 1965

*Krause, L.B., The Meaning of European Economic Integration for the United States, Ch. 2-3

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives, Department of Political Economy. Series 5/6. Box 6/1, Folder “Course Outlines and Reading Lists c. 1900, c. 1950, 1963-68”.

Image Source: Portrait of Bela Balassa in the Johns Hopkins University Yearbook, Hullabaloo 1976. Note that the image posted on the Béla Belassa page at the website Alchetron mistakenly uses a photo of Balassa Sándor Erkel Ferenc.

 

 

Categories
Bibliography Johns Hopkins Suggested Reading Syllabus

Johns Hopkins. Trade and Economic Development, Course Reading List. Balassa, 1968

 

Perhaps the story is apocryphal and/or I have confounded my European economists but I believe I remember having heard once upon a time during the Cold War that when Janos Kornai was asked how he could explain the relative abundance of successful Hungarian émigré economists, he replied “Oh we don’t export our best economists”. If the story is true, then certainly one of the Hungarian émigrés implicit in the question was likely to have been Bela Belassa. He attained textbook immortality as a co-parent of the Balassa-Samuelson Effect.

____________________________

The Johns Hopkins University
Department of Political Economy
Spring, 1968
Mr. Balassa

Trade and Economic Development
Bibliography and Reading List

Abbreviations of Books

Books are referred to by author unless otherwise noted.

Balassa, Bela, Trade Prospects for Developing Countries

Ellis, H.S., ed. Economic Development in Latin America

Hicks, J.R., Essays in World Economics

Harrod, Roy, ed., International Trade Theory in a Developing World

Johnson, H.G. I International Trade and Economic Growth

Johnson, H.G. II Money, Trade and Economic Growth

Johnson, H. G. III Economic Policies towards less Developed Countries

Meier, G.M., International Trade and Development

Mikesell, R.F., U.S. Private and Government Investment Abroad

Nurkse, R., Equilibrium and Growth in the World Economy

Pincus, J., Trade, Aid, and Development

Wionczek, M.S., ed. Latin American Integration

Abbreviations of Periodicals

AER      American Economic Review
Econ    Economica
EDCC   Economic Development and Cultural Change
EJ         Economic Journal
ER        Economic Record
JPE       Journal of Political Economy
Ky        Kyklos
LBR      Lloyds Bank Review
MS       Manchester School
Met     Metroeconomica
OEP     Oxford Economic Papers
QJE      Quarterly Journal of Economics
RES      Review of Economics and Statistics
RESt     Review of Economic Studies

I Foreign Trade and Economic Growth

Meier, ch. 2

Hicks, ch. 4 and Note B

Johnson, II, ch. 4

Johnson, I, ch. 4

Bhagwati, J., “International Trade and Economic Expansion” AER, December 1958

*Mishan, E.J. “The Long-Run Dollar Problem: A Comment” OEP June 1955

*Corden, W.M., “Economic Expansion and International Trade: A Geometric Approach,” OEP June 1956

*Findlay, R. and Grabert, H. “Factor Intensity, Technological Progress and the Terms of Trade,” OEP, February 1959

*Bhagwati, J., “Immiserizing Growth: A Geometrical Note,” RESt, June 1958

*Srinivasan, T.N., “Foreign Trade and Economic Development,” Met, January-August, 1965

II Trade Relations between Developed and Developing Countries: The Controversy

Nurkse, R., ch. 10 I, 11

Prebisch, Raul, “Commercial Policy in the Underdeveloped Countries” AER, May 1959

Pincus, Part II

Seers, Dudley, “A Model of Comparative Growth Rates in the World Economy,” EJ, March 1962

Meier, ch. 7

*Haberler, G., International Trade and Economic Development National Bank of Egypt, Cairo Lectures

*Viner, J., International Trade and Economic Development

*Cairncross, A.K., “International Trade and Economic Development,” Ky 1960 (4)

*Mynt, H., “The Gains from International Trade and to Backward Countries,” RESt, 1954-55

*Flanders, M.J., “Prebisch on Protectionism: An Evaluation,” EJ, June 1964

 

III Trade Relations between Developed and Developing Countries: The Facts

Balassa, ch. 1, 3, 4

Balassa, “Economic Growth, Trade, and Balance of Payments into Developing Countries”, mimeo, ch. 1, 2

Baer, W., “The Economics of Prebisch and ECLA” EDCC, January 1962, Comment by Flanders and Reply by Baer, ibid April 1964

Massell, B.F., “Export Concentration and Fluctuations in Export Earnings,” AER, March 1964

Morgan, T., “Trends in Terms of Trade, and their Repercussions on Primary Producers,” Harrod, ed. ch. 3

Meier, ch. 3

*Haberler, G., “Terms of Trade and Economic Development,” in Ellis, ch. 10.

*United Nations, International Compensation for Fluctuation in Commodity Trade, New York 1961

*United Nations, World Economic Survey, 1962, part I ch. 2

*Kindleberger, C.P., The Terms of Trade: A European Case Study

 

IV Trade Relations between Developed and Developing Countries: The Policies

Balassa, B., The Impact of the Industrial Countries’ Tariff Structure on their Imports of Manufactures from less-Developed Areas, Econ. November 1967

Johnson III, ch. 5, 6

Pincus, ch. 6, 7, 9

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Preferences and other Policy Measures to Stimulate Exports of the Developing Countries, Trade Intelligence Paper No. 7, 1966

Swerling, B. Current issues in Commodity Policy, Princeton Essays in International Finance No. 7

*Patterson, G., “Would Tariff Preferences Help Economic Development?” LBR, April 1965

*Johnson, H.G., “Trade Preferences for Developing Countries,” LBR, April 1966

*UNCTAD, The Question of the Granting and Extension of Preferences in Favour of Developing Countries, May 31, 1967

*Wallich, H.C., “Stabilization of Proceeds from Raw Material Exports” in Ellis ed.

*International Monetary Fund, Compensatory Financing of Export Fluctuations

*New Directions for World Trade, Proceedings of a Chatham House Conference, 1964

V Trade Policies in Developing Countries

Chenery, H.B., “Comparative Advantage and Development Policy,” AER May 1961

Hagen, E.E., “An Economic Justification of Protectionism,” QJE November 1958

Mynt, H., “Infant Industry Arguments for Assistance of Industries in the Setting of Dynamic Trade Theory,” Harrod, ch. 7

Balassa, B. and Schydlowsky, D., “Effective Tariffs, the Domestic Cost of Foreign Exchange, and the Equilibrium Exchange Rate,” JPE, April 1958

Corden, W.M., “The Vernon Report,” ER, March 1966

Meier, ch. 6

*Black, J., “Arguments for Tariffs,” OEP June 1959

*Bruno, M., “The Optimal Selection of Export-Promoting and Import-Substituting Projects, Planning the External Sector: Techniques, Problems and Policies United Nations, 1967

*Kemp, M.C., “The Mill-Bastable Infant-Industry Dogma,” JPE, February 1960

*Lewis, W.A., “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labor,” MS May 1954

*Chenery, H.B. and Bruno, M., “Development Alternatives in an Open Economy: The Case of Israel, EJ, March 1962

*Sheahan, J., “International Specialization and the Concept of Balanced Growth,” QJE, May 1958

 

VI Economic Integration among Less Developed Countries

Balassa, B., Economic Development and Integration

Balassa, B., “Integration and Resource Allocation in Latin America” mimeo

Mikesell, R.T., “The Theory of Common Markets as Applied to Regional Arrangements among Developing Countries,” Harrod, ch. 9

Massel, B.F. and Cooper, C.A., “Toward a General Theory of Customs Unions for Developing Countries,” JPEOctober 1965

*Wionczek, M.S., “Latin American Free Trade Association,” International Conciliation, January 1965

*Hansen, R.D., Central America: Regional Integration and Economic Development, National Planning Association, 1967

*United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, The Latin American Common Market, 1959

*Urquidi, V., Free Trade and Economic Integrity in Latin America

VII Capital Needs of Developing Countries and Foreign Aid

Johnson III, ch. 4

Pincus, ch. 8

Chenery, H.B. and Strout, A.M., “Foreign Assistance and Economic Development,” AER September 1966

McKinnon, R., “Foreign Exchange Constraints in Economic Development and Efficient Aid Allocation, EJ June 1954

Pincus, J., “The Cost of Foreign Aid,” RES November 1963

*Little, I.M.D. and Clifford, J.M., International Aid

*Fei, J.C.H. and Paauw, D.S., “Foreign Assistance and Self-Help: A Reappraisal of Development Finance,” RESAugust 1965

*Rosenstein-Rodan, P., “International Aid for Underdeveloped Countries,” RES May 1961

*Vanek, J., Estimating Foreign Resource needs for Economic Development: Theory, Method, and a Case Study of Colombia

 

VIII Foreign Investment and Economic Development

Nurkse, ch. 7, 10 II

MacDougall, D., “The Benefits and Costs of Private Investment Abroad: A Theoretical Approach, ER March 1960

Singer, M., “the Distribution of Gains between Investing and Borrowing Countries,” AER, May 1950

Alter, G.M., “The Servicing of Foreign Capital Inflows by Underdeveloped Countries,” Ellis, ch. 6

Meier, ch. 5

*Mikesell, Part II

*Avramovic and Gulhati, Debt Servicing Problems of Low Income Countries

*Mikesell, R.F., Public International Lending for Development

*Bernstein, M.D. Foreign Investment in Latin America

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives, Department of Political Economy. Series 5/6. Box 6/1, Folder “Course Outlines and Reading Lists c. 1900, c. 1950, 1963-68”.

Image Source: Portrait of Bela Balassa in the Johns Hopkins University Yearbook, Hullabaloo 1976. Note that the image posted on the Béla Belassa page at the website Alchetron mistakenly uses a photo of Balassa Sándor Erkel Ferenc.