Background
Morris, Cynthia Taft was born on April 28, 1928 in Cincinnati. Daughter of Charles Phelps and Eleanor Kellogg (Chase) Taft.
Morris, Cynthia Taft was born on April 28, 1928 in Cincinnati. Daughter of Charles Phelps and Eleanor Kellogg (Chase) Taft.
Bachelor of Arts (International Relations) Vassar College, 1949. Master of Science London School of Economies and Political Science, London, United Kingdom. Doctor of Philosophy Yale University, 1959.
Economic analyst Information Section Mutual Security Agency, Paris, 1951-1953. Tutor, Kirkland House Harvard University, Cambridge, 1955-1957, teaching fellow, economics department, 1955—1957. Research fellow American Association of University Women, Washington, 1958-1959.
Assistant professor economics American University of Beirut, 1961-1962. Associate professor economics American University, Washington, 1964-1969, professor economics, 1969-1983. Charles N. Clark professor economics Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, 1983—1998.
Distinguished economist in residence American University, since 1998. Coordinator Washington Area Economic History Seminar, 1981-1987. Consultant Office of Program and Policy Coordination Agency for International Development, Washington, 1962-1969.
Consultant electricity power committee Economic Commission of Europe, Geneva, 1960.
(Book by Morris, Professor Cynthia, Adelman, Ms. Irma)
Co-author: The Evolution of Wage Structure, 1956, Society, Politics and Economic Development, 1967, Economic Growth and Social Equity, 1973, Comparative Patterns of Economic Development, 1850-1914, 1988.
Throughout my career my major interest has been in the relationship between institutional influences and economic change. In my work with Lloyd Reynolds and in my studies of workers’ standards of living for the Marshall Plan, I focussed on the determinants of wage structures and changes in wage levels. When I shifted to the field of development economics in the 1960s, I continued my interest in the many ways in which institutional constraints and changes affected the outcome of economic developments.
As I gained familiarity with a wide range of econometric techniques through my work with Irma Adelman, I became fascinated by the challenge of measuring institutional structure and change. This interest in theory and practice of measurement in the broadest sense had a strong influence on both my research and my teaching. My current research work on the long-term evolution of societies in the modern historical epoch of rapid economic growth represents the culmination of two decades of work on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which I undertook with my colleague Irma Adelman in the late 1960s.
In this work we investigate the nature and causes of often striking differences in paths of change among different types of countries. Our focus is on the way in which initial resources and insti-
tutional conditions have interacted with dynamic economic forces and institutional transformations to influence the processes of economic growth and development. This work will be published as Where Angels Fear to Tread: Quantitative Studies in History and Development.
Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science. Member Economic History Association (vice president 1984-1985, president 1993-1994), Cliometric Society, American Economic Association.
Languages, literature, travel.
Married Donald Richard Morris, September 18, 1955 (divorced 1984). Children: David Taft Morris, Michele Taft Morris.