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Harvard Teaching

Harvard. Graduate econometrics, first semester. Houthakker and Vanek, 1962

The transcription of the following partial (?) course syllabus was shared with Economics in the Rear-view Mirror by Vincent Carret, a doctoral candidate at Université Lumiere Lyon 2, Faculté des Sciences Économiques et de Gestion (FSEG). 

Perhaps there are others who would like to contribute to this project with the contribution of a transcription? If so, leave a comment below for me to get in touch with you.

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Course Announcement
1962-63

Economics 224a. Econometric Methods, I

Half course (fall term). W., F., 2-3:30. Professor [Hendrik] Houthakker and Assistant Professor [Jaroslav] Vanek.

An introduction to the use of multivariate statistical analyses in the study of economic behavior, with special emphasis on budgetary and other individual decision unit data.

Prerequisite: Economics 221[Quantitative Methods, II] or equivalent.

Source: Harvard University.  Courses of Instruction for Harvard and Radcliffe, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1962-1963, p. 105.

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Econometric Methods I
Economics 224a

Professors Houthakker and Vanek

Reading List #1                                                               Fall 1962

I. General References

Klein L., Introduction to Econometrics, (elementary)

Klein, L., A Textbook of Econometrics (advanced)

II. Household Consumption

Allen, R. G. D. and Bowley, A. L., Family Expenditures; a Study of its Variation, 1935

Prais, S. J. and Houthakker, H. S., The Analysis of Family Budgets, 1955

Houthakker, H. S., “An International Comparison of Household Expenditure Patterns….,” Econometrica, October 1957

Friedman, M., A Theory of the Consumption Function, 1957

Kuh, E. and Meyer, J., “How Extraneous are Extraneous Estimates?” Review of Economics and Statistics, November 1957

Kuh, E. and Meyer, J., “Correlation and Regression Estimates When the Data are Ratios,” Econometrica, April 1959

Kuh, E., “The Validity of Cross-Sectionally Estimating Behavior Equations in True Series Applications,” Econometrica, April 1959

Friend, I. and Jones, R., Study of Consumer Expenditures, Income and Saving, 1960

Volume 1

Houthakker, H., and Haldi, J. (p. 175)
Peters, W. S. (p. 247)

Volume 2

Modigliani, F. and Ando, As. (p. 49)
Watts, H. W. and Tobin, J., (p. 1)
Bodkin, R., (p. 175)
Miner, J., (p. 400)

Rosett, R., “Working Wives” Studies in Household Economic Behavior (by T. Dernburg and others — Yale U. P. 1958

Aitcheson, J. and Prais, S. J., “The Treatment of Grouped Observations” Review International Statistic Institute, 1954

IV.  (sic) Investment

Meyer, J. and Kuh, E., The Investment Decision, 1957

Eisner, R., Determinants of Capital Expenditure, 1956

V. Cost Functions

Johnston, J., Statistical Cost Analysis

VI. Survey Methods

Survey Research Center (University of Michigan) 1960 Survey of Consumer Finances

Tobin, J., “On the Predictive Value of Consumer Intentions & Attitudes,” Rev. Econ. & Stat. February 1959

National Bureau of Economic Research, Quality and Economic Significance of Anticipations Data

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 8, Folder “Economics, 1962-1963 (2 of 2)”.

Image Sources:

Hendrik Samuel Houthakker from website Find-A-Grave.

Jaroslav Vanek (1961 Fellow) from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation website.

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Carnegie Institute of Technology Chicago Economist Market Economists Harvard M.I.T.

Chicago. Three casual letters from Cambridge, Mass. regarding young talent, 1957-59

 

In the three letters to Theodore W. Schultz transcribed for this post we witness the old-boy network at work in Chicago’s search for young talent.  Mason and Harris from Harvard share the enormous respect that Harvard Junior Fellow Frank Fisher had won from the senior professors there.  Evsey Domar hedges somewhat in his assessment of Robert L. Slighton but more or less places him in a spectrum running between Marc Nerlove and Martin Bailey closer to the latter. Other now familiar (and less familiar) names are tossed in for good measure.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Office of the Dean

Littauer Center
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts

December 27, 1957

Professor Theodore Schultz
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Dear Ted:

In addition to [John] Meyer, [James] Henderson and [Otto] Eckstein, I would also name Franklin Fisher and Daniel Ellsberg as among our really promising young men. Fisher and Ellsberg are, at present, both junior fellows. Fisher is something of a wunderkind, having graduated summa cum laude from Harvard at the age of 18. He published a mathematical article on Welfare Economics when he was a senior, and those who can understand it say it’s good. He is only 20 now, and, of course, it is difficult to say how he is going to turn out. He may be another Paul Samuelson, and on the other hand he may not. Ellsberg is another one of our summas and a very good man, indeed. I don’t think he measures up to John Meyer, but is probably in the Henderson and Eckstein category. Since I promised you six names, I will add that of [???] Miller who came to us this year from California. I have really seen nothing of him, and consequently, can no give you a first-hand judgement. My colleagues, however, think he is very good.

With best wishes, I am

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Ed
Edward S. Mason
Dean

ESM:rrl

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Office of the Chairman

M-8 Littauer Center
Cambridge 38, Massachusetts

January 5, 1959

Professor Theodore Schultz
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Chicago 37, Illinois

Dear Ted:

It was good to see you even though it was for a very short period. As you know, we include on our list of available men only those who have requested to be put on the list or who have given us their permission to have their name included in the list. It represents men who are either already Ph.D.’s or will receive their Ph.D. within the year, and who are actually available for the coming year.

[Daniel] Ellsberg will be getting his Ph.D. this year, but he is going to Rand at a salary of about $10,000. [Franklin] Fisher will not have his Ph.D. until June 1960. He is just out of college three years and has been offered an assistant professorship at Carnegie Tech. We have now promised him a similar appointment, and in fact he said he would prefer to be at Harvard.

Among other young men of talent who are now here but are not on our permanent roster are the following: Leon Moses who teaches half time in the department and does research with the [Wassily] Leontief project half time. There is a good chance that Moses will go to Pittsburgh, particularly in order to work on the metropolitan project with [Edgar M.] Hoover. Moses is an excellent man in every way and certainly of permanent quality: the same holds for Alfred Conrad who is in somewhat the same position as Moses. Incidentally, both of them have a leave for next year: There is also André Daniere who will be an assistant professor next year and who works primarily with Leontief. Daniere is another good man, though probably not quite as good as the others.

Then there are Otto Eckstein, James Henderson, Jaroslav Vanek and Louis Lefeber. They are all excellent men and in the running for a permanent appointment. Actually, during the next few years we will have but one or two openings and obviously we cannot keep all these men. There is little to choose among them and we will have a tough time making a decision. Please keep this in the highest confidence.

With kind regard, I am,

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Sey
Seymour E. Harris
Chairman

SHE/jw

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MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Economics and Social Science

Cambridge 39, Massachusetts

January 14, 1959

Professor Theodore W. Schultz
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Chicago 37, Illinois

Dear Ted:

Your letter of January 6, regarding [Robert L.] Slighton is not quite easy to answer. I do not know [Daniel] Elsberg [sic] or [Franklin] Fisher well enough to make comparisons, but I will try to compare Slighton with [Martin J.] Bailey and [Marc] Nerlove. From the point of view of statistical and mathematical ability, Nerlove stands in a class all by himself, and I do not think that Slighton’s comparative advantage is in those fields. As far as Bailey is concerned, he may have flashes of ideas at times superior to Slighton’s. On the other hand, I would credit Slighton with greater solidity, more common sense and better judgment. As far as long-run contributions are concerned, I don’t know on whom of the two I would bet at the moment, but Slighton would be a serious contender in any such betting.

Lloyd [Metzler]’s session went quite well. He was greeted by the audience most warmly and was pleased about the whole works very much. I am very happy that that meeting was arranged and that I could participate in it.

Please let me know if you need any additional information.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Evsey D
Evsey D. Domar

EDD:jr

Source:  University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics, Records. Box 42, Folder 9.

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MIT. Economics Ph.D. alumnus (1957) Jaroslav Vanek. Obituary, 2017

 

When I conducted a bit of scholarly due diligence to try to establish the date of a Harvard economics skit I posted a few days ago (the script refers to the fact that Professor Vanek was leaving the Harvard department much to the regret of the skit-writers), I discovered that MIT Ph.D. alumnus, Jaroslav Vanek, passed away last month. Having been raised a comparative economics economist, I was aware of some of his work and post the local obituary that provides some insight into the man and scholar. 

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Vanek, Jaroslav
04/20/1930-11/15/2017
Published in Ithaca Journal on Nov. 18, 2017

Ithaca resident Jaroslav Vanek, 87 years of age, passed away peacefully at Hospicare of Ithaca on Wednesday, November 15, due to the effects of myelodysplasia. He was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on April 20, 1930, to Josef and Jaroslava Vanek. His father worked in the Czech government’s labor ministry. He survived the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Axis forces from 1938 to 1945, and during this time his mother took up beekeeping as a way to make ends meet, which turned into an interest that he would continue in his later years. Other early activities included building a canoe to paddle on the Vltava River that passes through Prague, and time spent at the family’s summer house in the village of Voznice, in the forested hills about 25 miles south of the city.

Jaroslav graduated from the Prague Gymnasium (high school) in 1949, where he was the pole vaulter on the track and field team. Later in life he reconnected with his high school classmates and attended many reunions with them in the Czech Republic in recent years. In September 1949, the family fled for political reasons into Germany, where they at first landed in a refugee camp in Munich, before eventually settling in Geneva and Paris.

The hardships of the Second World War and the communist takeover of Eastern Europe instilled in Jaroslav a lifelong desire to make the world a better place, including at first social justice and eradication of poverty, and later protection of the environment and development of renewable energy. Desire to increase the welfare of ordinary people led to an interest in economics, and he earned a degree in the field from the University of Geneva in 1954. He stayed on in Geneva to work as a professional economist, and while there met Prof. Charles Kindleberger of MIT. In 1955 he left Geneva for Cambridge to pursue a doctorate in economics under Prof. Kindleberger’s supervision, which he earned in 1957. He then taught economics at Harvard University. In 1958 while teaching at Harvard he met Wilda Marraffino of Larchmont, NY, then a doctoral candidate in history at Harvard, and they married on December 26, 1959.

Jaroslav left Harvard for an economics position with the U.S. State Department in Washington, DC, in 1963, and then came to Ithaca in 1964 to take a position with the Department of Economics in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell. Upon arrival they rented a house from the late Prof. Herbert Gilman of Cornell’s Veterinary College at 414 Triphammer Road, and later purchased the house. Although he and Wilda traveled widely, they would always call the house, known among family members as either “Triphammer” or “414”, home for the rest of his days and years.

His early work focused on international economics, one notable book being “Maximal Economic Growth” published in 1968. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he turned his attention to labor managed cooperatives as an alternative to mainstream economic models, leading to titles such as “The Participatory Economy: An Evolutionary Hypothesis and a Strategy for Development” in 1971. He was visiting professor in Belgrade, Yugoslavia; Louvain, Belgium; Wassenaar, Netherlands; and The Hague, Netherlands. These appointments gave his growing family a chance to live and go to school in several foreign countries, which formed an influential part of their upbringing. He also advised the governments of Peru and Turkey during this time.

In 1979 while on his second sabbatical at the Institute for Social Studies in The Hague, he got to know a Bangladeshi graduate student named Shakur who was eager to start a cooperative using solar energy to bake clay building bricks. This encounter sparked Jaroslav’s lifelong interest in appropriate technology combined with cooperatives, as a way to address economic inequality in the world. On his return to Ithaca he started the “Ensol” solar energy cooperative and began involving his family and graduate students in a flurry of low-tech solar inventions ranging from very large inflated parabolic discs, simple parabolas to generate steam power and improving simple one-pot solar oven design.

Jaroslav would also develop prototypes to harness wind and wave power. In 1986, as the work continued and attracted interest from around the world, Jaroslav and Wilda created the S.T.E.V.E.N. Foundation not-for-profit (Sustainable Technology and Energy for Vital Economic Needs) to fund continuing research and outreach abroad. Longtime Ithacans may remember the shiny Mylar-lined parabolic solar collectors which were visible in front of their home at 414 Triphammer Rd in the eighties and nineties.

Jaroslav enjoyed physical activity whether building his inventions in the backyard, walking or biking to his office on Cornell campus or summertime swimming in the local parks. In 1988 at 58 years old he biked around Cayuga Lake. His mother had remained in Geneva, Switzerland, and took up beekeeping as she had done during the war, so over the years he would help her when visiting. His children distinctly remember dad loading the family Volkswagen bus within an inch of breaking the rear axle at the Migro supermarket in Geneva with bags of sugar for mixing sugar-water for the beehives. In retirement, he enjoyed pitching in with projects at his daughter Teresa’s farm, notably assisting in beginning the beekeeping operation there and passing the interest to the third and eventually fourth generation. He also helped three local children with building their homes: a straw-bale home for each Teresa and her brother Steven, and a cohousing home for their brother Francis in the Ecovillage at Ithaca Second Neighborhood.

In 1989, forty years after he escaped with his parents, Jaroslav was invited to present at an economic conference in what was still Czechoslovakia – just before the Velvet Revolution. He brought the family along to see his birthplace for the first time. Thankfully he was able to reconnect with many friends and family. In 1992 the rise and fall of communism in Czechoslovakia came full circle and the summer house in Voznice that had been confiscated was returned to Jaroslav and his brothers’ ownership. This sturdy house that bordered on forests and a large swimming pond became a home away from home during annual visits to Czech Republic. Jaroslav and Wilda (and frequently their children and grandchildren) enjoyed bicycling, walking in the nearby forests – sometimes collecting delicious mushrooms and berries — and the cultural riches of Prague. They were fortunate to revive friendships in Czech Republic that continue until this day.

In closing, Jaroslav truly lived the maxim to “do all the good you can, for as long as you can.” He is survived by his wife of 57 years Wilda Vanek, and children and grandchildren: Josef Vanek, MD, surgeon in Uniontown, PA (wife Sue, children Carolyn and Tess); Francis (wife Catherine Johnson, children Ray and Mira), faculty at Cornell University; Rosie (husband Jon Liden), the Global Fund, Geneva, Switzerland; Steven (wife Leia Raphaeledis, children Anais and Jan), faculty at Colorado State University, Fort Collins; and Teresa (husband Brent Welch, children Milan and Luka), co-owner of Bright Raven Farm and Apiary.

A mass of Christian burial will be held at Immaculate Conception Church, 113 N. Geneva St., Ithaca, on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 11:30 AM. Family will receive friends at the church at 10:45 AM. Burial will take place at Pleasant Grove Cemetery, in Cayuga Heights, following a brief reception after mass.

 

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theithacajournal/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=187271566