Studied in Berlin, Halle and Vienna. His tenure of the Freiburg chair further enhanced its prestige. Teaching by the seminar method, he attracted and held a large number of students.
His views were largely of an institutionalist type, though he relied very much on the English classics as a starting point.
Theoretische Nationalökonomie reveals his theoretical ability and his willingness to turn theory to the solving of practical problems. He was also a Proudhon scholar of considerable note.
Professor, University Rostock, 1898, University Königsberg, 1899, University Freiburg, 1908-1943.