Wassily Leontief (1906 - 1999)

Premiu Nobel  1973

Wassily W. Leontief s-a nascut in San Petersburg. In 1931 a emigrat in Statele Unite, unde a capatat nationalitatea. A obtinut Premiul Nobel in Economie in 1973 pentru dezvoltarea metodei  input-output si aplicarea sa importantelor probleme economice. 

A studiat economia la Universitatea din Moscova si Leningrad. Si-a luat doctoratul la Universitatea din Berlin in 1928 si a lucrat la scoala din Kiel pana ce Hitler l-a concediat. In Statele Unite a muncit la Biroul National de Cercetare Economica si a fost profesor la Harvard. 

Tabelele input-output sunt culmea unei lungi traditii teoretice ce poate incepe cu fiziocratii si Quesnay, cu avansurile matematice ale lui Walras. Leontief a inceput sa-si dezvolte modelul sau teoretic in scoala de la Kiel, dar de abia in 1941 a putut sa publice "The Structure of the American Economy", carte in care s-a prezentat pentru prima data o lucrare empirica realizata cu aceasta metodologie.

Interesul in lucrarile lui Leontief nu se limiteaza la cunoscutele sale TIO: Leontief a fost un detasat keynesian ce a exercitat o mare influenta asupra neokeynesistilor si neoricardianilor. In 1953 a descoperit ceea ce s-a numit "paradoxul lui Leontief": ca exporturile Statelor Unite nu sunt "capital intensiv" ci "munca intensiva", ceea ce contrazicea teoria clasica a comertului international.

Aici puteti citi o explicatie simpla asupra tabelelor input-output.

Lucrari:

• "The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade", 1933, QJE. 
• "Delayed Adjustment of Supply and Partial Equilibrium", 1934, ZfN. 
• "The Fundamental Assumption of Mr. Keynes's Monetary Theory of Unemployment", 1936, QJE. 
• "Composite Commodities and the Problem of Index Numbers", 1936, Econometrica. 
• "Implicit Theorizing: a methodological criticism of the Neo-Cambridge school", 1937, QJE. 
• "The Significance of Marxian Economics for Present-Day Economic Theory", 1938, AER. 
• The Structure of the American Economy, 1919-1939, 1941. 
• "The Pure Theory of the Guaranteed Annual Wage Contract", 1946, JPE. 
• "Introduction to a Theory of the Internal Structure of Functional Relationships", 1947, Econometrica. 
• "Wages, Profits, Prices and Taxes", 1947, Dun's Review. 
• "Postulates: Keynes's General Theory and the classicists", 1947, in Harris, editor, The New Economics. 
• "Note on the Pluralistic Interpretation of History and the Problem of Interdisciplinary Co-operation", 1948, J of Philosophy. 
• "Input-Output Economics", 1951, Scientific American. 
• "Machines and Man", 1952, Scientific American. 
• Studies in the Structure of the American Economy, 1953. 
• "Domestic Production and Foreign Trade: the American capital position re-examined", 1953, Proceedings of American Philosophical Society. 
• "Mathematics in Economics", 1954, Bulletin of the AMS. 
• "Factor Proportions and the Structure of American Trade: Further theoretical and empirical analysis", 1956, REStat. 
• "Theoretical Note on the Time-Preference, Productivity of Capital, Stagnation and Economic Growth", 1958, AER. 
• "The Problem of Quality and Quantity in Economics", 1959, Daedalus. 
• "The Rise and Decline of Soviet Economic Science", 1960, Foreign Affairs. 
• "The Economic Effects of Disarmament", with M. Hoffenberg, 1961, Scientific American. 
• "The Rates of Long Run Growth and Capital Transfer from Developed to Underdeveloped Areas", 1963, Proceedings of Conference on Role of Econometric Analysis. 
• "Modern Techniques for Economic Planning and Projection", 1963, Scuola in Azione. 
• "Multiregional Input-Output Analysis", with A. Strout, 1963, in Barna, editor, Structural Intedependence... 
• "The Structure of Development", 1963, Scientific American. 
• "When Should History be written Backwards?", 1963, Economic History Review. 
• "Proposal for Better Economic Forecasting", 1964, Harvard Business Review. 
• "On Assignment of Patent Rights on Inventions Made under Government Research Contracts", 1964, Harvard Law Review. 
• "Input-Output Analysis", 1965, Scientific American. 
• Input-Output Economics, 1966. 
• Essays in Economics: Theories and theorizing, 1966. 
• Essays in Economics, 1966. 
• "Theoretical Assumptions and Non-Observed Facts", 1971, AER. 
• "Structure of World Production: Outline of a simple input-output formulation", 1974, AER 
• The Future of the World Economy, with A.P. Carter and P. Petri 1977. 
• Military Spending, with F. Duchin, 1983 
• The Future Impact of Automation on Workers, with F. Duchin, 1986. 
• "Money-Flow Computations", with A. Brody, 1993, Econ Systems Research