Background
Wassily Leontief was born on August 5, 1906 in Munich, Germany. He is a son of Wassily and Zlata (later Evgenia) Leontief.
Wassily Leontief was born on August 5, 1906 in Munich, Germany. He is a son of Wassily and Zlata (later Evgenia) Leontief.
Wassily Leontief studied at the Frederick William University in Berlin and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1928.
Wassily Leontief immigrated to the United States in 1931, teaching at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1931 to 1975. From 1948 to 1975 he was director of the Harvard Economic Research Project on the Structure of the American Economy. From 1975 until his death he was a professor of economics at New York University; he was named director of the school’s Institute for Economic Analysis in 1978.
Having come to the conclusion that so-called partial analysis cannot provide a sufficiently broad basis for fundamental understanding of the structure and operation of economic systems, he set out in 1931 to formulate a general equilibrium theory capable of empirical implementation. Received a research grant for compilation of the first input-output tables of the American economy (for the years 1919 and 1929) in 1932. Began to make use of a large scale mechanical computing machine in 1935 and Mark I (the first large-scale electronic computer) in 1943.
As member of the staff of the Institute for World Economics at the University of Kiel from 1927 to 1930, engaged in research on derivation of statistical demand and supply curves. This academic work was interrupted in 1929 by a twelve-month stay in China as advisor to the Ministry of Railroads. Moved to the National Bureau of Economic Research in New York in 1931 and to the Department of Economics at Harvard University in 1932. Became Professor of Economics in 1946; organized the Harvard Economic Research Project in 1948, and served as its Director until 1973; have been Chairman of the Harvard Society of Fellows since 1965.
Leontief is also distinguished for having developed linear programming, a mathematical technique for solving complex problems of economic operations. He also is known for the “Leontief Paradox.”Economists had previously held that a country’s exports reflect the commodity most abundant in that country - i.e., labour or capital. However, as Leontief pointed out, though the United States has more capital than most other nations, the majority of its exports were of labour-intensive goods; conversely, the majority of U.S. imports were of capital-intensive goods. This phenomenon came to be known as the Leontief Paradox.
Name Structure of the American Economy
An Empirical Application of Equilibrium Analysis
Input-Output Economics
Studies in the Structure of the American Economy
Essays in Economics
Essays in Economics, The second
The Future of the World Economy
Military Spending: Facts and Figures, Worldwide Implications and Future Outlook
Econometric Society
Institute de France (correspondent)
Society Fellows Harvard (senior; chairman 1964?Co75)
Royal Statistical Association (honorary); American Association for the Advancement of Science
National Academy of Sciences
Society of Optimate Italian Culture Institute
British Association Advancement of Sci. (president Section F 1976)
Academie Universelle des Cultures
World Academy for Progress of Planning Sci. (honorary president 1993)
Royal Economic Society
Royal Irish Academy (honorary)
Japan Economic Research Center (honorary)
British Academy (correspondent)
French Academy Scis. (correspondent)
Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Academy Scis. (foreign)
American Statistical Association
American Economic Association
International Statistical Institute
American Philosophical Society
Century
On December 25, 1932 Wassily Leontief married Estelle Helena Marks. They had a daughter, Svetlana Leontief Alpers.
