Irving Bernard Kravis

Background

Kravis, Irving Bernard was born on August 30, 1916 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Nathan and Ethel (Gelgood) Kravis.

Education

Bachelor of Science, University Pennsylvania, 1938. Master of Arts, University Pennsylvania, 1939. Doctor of Philosophy, University Pennsylvania, 1947.

Career

Assistant Professor, Association Professor of Economics, University Pennsylvania, 1949-1961. Association Dean, Wharton School, University Pennsylvania,

60. Research Staff, National Bureau of Economie Research, New York, New York, United States of America, since 1962.

Director, United Nations International Comparison Project, 1968-1982. Consultant, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United States Department State, United States Department Labor, Federal Reserve Board, World Bank, United Nations. Professor of Economics, University Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 1961-.

Chairman, Committee Publications, American Economic Association, 1962-1965.

Achievements

• Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, 1967-1968. Fellow, Econometric Society, 1979. American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1978.
  
  Ford Foundation Faculty Research Fellow, 1960-1961. Fellow, American Association Advancement Science, 1984. Council, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, 1975-1983.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Price competitiveness in world trade

    (The National Bureau of Economic Research published this s...)

  • Phase III World Production and Income (World Bank)
  • World Product and Income: International Comparisons of Real Gross Product. Produced by the Statistical Office of the United Nations and The World Bank

• Other Work

  • Co-author: Price Competitiveness in World Trade, 1971. Co-author: World Product and Income, 1982. Contributor articles to professional journals.

Views

Much of my work has dealt with comparative economic structures, particularly of quantities and prices. I have also been interested in the role of prices in international trade and in the role of multinational enterprises in world trade. A large part of the comparative economic structure work was represented by two major projects aimed at international comparisons of Gross Domestic Product and of the purchasing power of currencies.

The first was the comparisons involving developed European countries carried out at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and resulting in the Gilbert-Kravis volume. The second was the United Nations International Comparison Project which I directed through the first three phases starting in 1968 and ending in 1982. This resulted in three reports and a number of papers

authored jointly with A. Heston and R. Summers.

The methodology of such comparisons was established and comparisons made for 34 varied countries with means of extending the results to other countries worked out. Also, in conjunction with Heston and Summers and with R. Lipsey, a start has been made in exploring the substantive content of the data. The comparisons open up the possibility, for example, of investigating differences in the level of prices, work that I have started in collaboration with Lipsey.

In the trade field, I produced some early studies of United States trade patterns showing that United States exports depended to a substantial extent on successive innovations. Later, my work concentrated more on the role of prices. Both the Gross Domestic Product price comparisons and those made in connection with trade flows indicate a diversity of prices and pricing practices even for similar or highly competitive goods.

The explanation of these differences in prices remains on the agenda for research.

Membership

Served to 1st lieutenant United States Army Air Force, 1942-1946. Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Academy Arts and Sciences, Econometric Society, American Economic Association (Distinguished fellow award 1992). Member Royal Economic Society.

Connections

Married Lillian Beatrice Panzer, June 22, 1941. Children: Robert, Marcia, Ellen, Nathan.

Father:

Nathan Kravis

Mother:

Ethel (Gelgood) Kravis

Spouse:

Lillian Beatrice Panzer

child:

Robert Kravis

child:

Marcia Kravis

child:

Ellen Kravis

child:

Nathan Kravis