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Economic History Harvard

Harvard. Modern European Economic History. Gay, 1906-1907

 

Edwin F. Gay was promoted to the rank of professor in 1906 and served as the acting chairman of the Harvard economics department during Thomas Nixon Carver’s leave of absence. He then became the chair of the department in 1907. This was followed by his appointment as the first dean of the newly established Graduate School of Business Administration in 1908.

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Earlier, related posts

A brief course description for Economics 11 plus the exams from 1902-03.

Exams for 1903-04.

Exams for 1904-05.

Exams for 1905-06.

A short bibliography for “serious students” of economic history assembled by Gay and published in 1910 has also been posted.

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 11. Professor Gay. — Modern Economic History of Europe.

Total 25: 8 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 11
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

  1. Describe briefly, with reference to England in the sixteenth century:
    1. the position of the Hanseatic merchants.
    2. the policy with regard to shippingthe law and practice as to usury.
  2. [Gilds]
    1. Cunningham says: “It is probable that the powers of the gilds had been so much affected by the legislation of Edward VI. that they had but little influence either for good or evil.”
      What precisely was this legislation? What was the attitude of the Tudor governments to the craft gilds?
    2. He also states that the craft gilds, “before the close of Elizabeth’s reign were reconstituted, or companies which corresponded to them were created anew.… These companies were different in many ways from the craft gilds, even when they were erected upon their ruins.”
      Do Ashley and Unwin agree with this view? What are the facts in regard to the development of gild organization under Elizabeth?
    3. State briefly, as compared with England, the chief points of analogy and difference in Continental gild history.
  3. [Wages and prices]
    1. Criticise the following: “In the sixteenth century, when prices as well as wages were still frequently settled by authority, the competition of the laborers for food would not have such immediate effects on prices as in modern times; the regulation would tend to hasten the entire exhaustion of the supply, rather than to bring about a further rise of price.”
      What was the regulation of prices and wages here mentioned? Do you think it had any appreciable effect on the movement of prices or wages in the sixteenth century?
    2. What in general was the price movement of that period and what caused it? What are the difficulties in comparing the purchasing power of a shilling in 1450, 1550, and 1907.
  4. What were the salient features of the Mercantile System?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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ECONOMICS 11
Year-end Examination, 1906-07

  1. Explain briefly: —

(1) aulnager.
(2) ship-money.
(3) the “vend.”
(4) South Sea Bubble.
(5) contractus trinius.
(6) commenda.

  1. [Mercantile policies]
    1. State the chief provisions and significance of

(a) the Statute of Artificers,
(b) the Navigation Act, and
(c) the Corn Law of 1688.

    1. When was the policy embodied in a and c changed, and under what circumstances?

III. [Company organization]

    1. What were the forms of company organization in England? What change took place in public sentiment regarding them?
    2. Compare the development of mercantile companies in England, France, and Holland.
  1. [Domestic system vs. wage labor system]
    1. Comment on the following: “The distinguishing feature of the capitalist, as contrasted with the domestic, system lies in the fact, that under the former scheme, employers or undertakers own the materials and pay the wages, whereas in the domestic system the workman is his own master; he owns the materials on which he works and sells the product of his labour.”
    2. Give examples from the textile industries of three types of the domestic system.

Take one of the following.

  1. Discuss this statement: “There has been a tendency to associate the great commercial expansion of the seventeenth century with the name of Cromwell…. It is difficult to see that any evidence whatever can be adduced in support of this view, while there is much to be said against it.”
  2. “With a country almost naturally defenceless, engaged by position and religion in conflicts far beyond their real national strength, the Dutch at length became exhausted by the pressure of the taxes they paid.” Is this an adequate explanation of the economic decline of Holland? If not, what is the explanation?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 33-34.

Image Source: Harvard Class Album, 1914. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Bibliography Development Harvard

Harvard. Seminar Bibliography on Economic Development. Mason and Galbraith, 1960-61

When John Kenneth Galbraith received a phone call on December 7, 1960 from President-elect John Fitzgerald Kennedy asking him to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to India, he was approaching the end of the first semester of a two semester seminar on problems of economic and political development that he led together with with his colleague, the Dean of the Graduate School of Public Administration, Edward S. Mason. The seminar was a joint production of the Department of Economics and the Graduate School of Public Administration and originally brought on line by Galbraith.

As can be seen in the official staffing/enrollment information given in the Harvard President’s Report for 1960-61, the spring semester was not offered, almost certainly as the result of Galbraith taking a leave of absence beginning in the spring semester. The handwritten date on the seminar bibliography in the Harvard archives is “October 10, 1960”. At that time both Mason and Galbraith would have presumed the seminar would run for both the fall and spring semesters. For this reason, I believe it is reasonable to assume both professors were responsible in some part for the the bibliography as transcribed below. One may also assume  that Gustav Papanek, who later headed Harvard’s Development Advisory Service from 1962-1970, probably also had a hand in drafting the bibliography.

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Course Announcement

Economics 287. Seminar: Problems of Economic and Political Development (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Public Administration)

Full course. Tu., 2-4. Professors Mason and Galbraith; Drs. Papanek and Hainsworth; Mr. Bell.

Source: Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. LVII, No. 21 (August 29, 1960), Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Courses of Instruction, 1960-1961. p. 102.

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Staffing and Enrollments
in Economics 287

1952-53

No enrollment figures given for that year.
Not listed in the course announcements

However in Galbraith’s papers one finds a reading list dated 1952-53 along with typed notes for the first meeting of the seminar.

1953-54

[Economics] 287. Seminar on Problems of Economic and Political Development (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Public Administration). Professor Galbraith.
Full course.

Fall.

Total 12: 6 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 2 Other Graduates, 2 Seniors, 1 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

Spring.

Total 14: 6 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 5 Other Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1953-54, p. 103.

1954-55

[Economics] 287. Seminar on Problems of Economic and Political Development (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Public Administration). Professor Galbraith.
Half course. Fall.

Total 18: 7 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 8 Other Graduates, 3 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1954-55, p. 94.

1955-56

Not offered

1956-57

[Economics] 287. Seminar on Problems of Economic and Political Development (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Public Administration). Professor Galbraith.
Half course. Fall.

Total 14: 5 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 7 Other Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1956-57, p. 73.

1957-58

Economics] 287. Seminar on Problems of Economic and Political Development (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Public Administration). Professor Galbraith and others.
Full course.

Fall.

Total 21: 7 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 14 Other Graduates.

Spring.

Total 22: 8 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 14 Other Graduates.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1957-58, p. 85.

1958-59

Economics] 287. Seminar on Problems of Economic and Political Development (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Public Administration). Professors Galbraith  and Kuznets (Johns Hopkins University); Drs. Hainsworth, A. J. Meyer and Papanek; Mr. Bell.
Full course.

Fall.

Total 33: 5 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 24 Other Graduates, 1 Senior, 3 Radcliffe.

Spring.

Total 36: 6 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 25 Other Graduates, 2 Seniors, 2 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1958-59, p. 74.

1959-60

Economics] 287. Seminar: Problems of Economic and Political Development (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Public Administration). Professors Mason and Galbraith, Drs. A. J. Meyer, Papanek and Mr. Bell.
Full course.

Fall.

Total 23: 6 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 13 Other Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Radcliffe, 2 Others.

Spring.

Total 23: 6 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 12 Other Graduates, 1 Seniors, 2 Radcliffe, 2 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1959-60, p. 86.

1960-61

[Economics] 287. Problems of Economic and Political Development (Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Public Administration). Professor Mason; Drs. Papanek and Hainsworth.
Half course. Fall.

Total 28: 12 [Arts and Sciences] Graduates, 14 Other Graduates, 1 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1960-1961, p. 80.

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ECONOMICS 287
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
[21 October 1960]

The following bibliography is a selected list of books and articles intended to cover most of the major theoretical and empirical studies concerned with economic growth in underdeveloped areas, that have been published in recent years. No attempt has been made to include (a) major work in the historical evolution of economic thought (Smith, Ricardo, Marx, Schumpeter, etc.); (b) modern theoretical work on economic growth in advanced countries (Harrod, Domar, Fellner, Duesenberry, etc.); or (c) empirical work dealing with the growth of the advanced countries — all of which may be very useful in the attempt to understand the problems of underdeveloped countries and what can be done to assist their economic progress.

The purpose was to produce a short list. Necessarily, many interesting and useful items have been omitted. No major contributions have been omitted intentionally, however, and the users of the bibliography are requested to bring such omissions to the notice of those in charge of the seminar.

The principle of selection has been indicated above. The limits of coverage were set largely in accord with the practice of the Seminar on Economic Development. That is, the focus is primarily on economic issues, with the word “economic” interpreted fairly broadly. In addition, some attention is given to political, social, and cultural matters insofar as they are directly related to economic development. This gives a coverage which overlaps to some extent the fields of government, sociology, and anthropology, and perhaps other disciplines. It might be well to make clear that this bibliography is not intended to cover the works in those other disciplines which are concerned with social, political, and cultural change as such, but only the relationships of such types of change to economic development.

All suggestions for improvement will be welcome.

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CONTENTS
  1. Selected Bibliography on Economic Development
    1. General
      1. Primarily Theoretical
      2. Primarily Historical and Descriptive
    2. Planning
      1. Primarily Theoretical
      2. Primarily Descriptive
    3. Mobilization of Resources
      1. Domestic Resources
      2. Foreign Private Investment
      3. Foreign Public Grants and Loans
    4. International Trade
    5. Land and Agriculture
    6. Labor
    7. Entrepreneurship
    8. Population
    9. Measurement of National Income
    10. Political, Social, and Cultural Factors in Economic Development
  2. Other Bibliographies
  3. Some Major Compilations of Statistical Information

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  1. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
    1. GENERAL
      1. Primarily Theoretical

Baran, Paul, “On the Political Economy of Backwardness,” The Manchester School, January 1950.

Bauer, P. T., Economic Analysis and Policy in Underdeveloped Countries, (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1957).

Borts, G. H., “Returns Equalization and Regional Growth,” American Economic Review, June 1960.

Burtle, J., “Parametric Maps of Different Types of Economic Development,” Review of Economics and Statistics, February 1960.

Dupriez, L. H. (ed.), Economic Progress, (Papers by Kuznets, Cairncross, and others), (Louvain: 1955).

Hagen, E. E., “How Economic Growth Begins: A General Theory Applied to Japan,” Public Opinion Quarterly, Fall 1958.

Higgins, Benjamin, Economic Development, (New York: Norton, 1959).

Hirschman, Albert O. The Strategy of Economic Development, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1958).

Leibenstein, Harvey, Economic Backwardness and Economic Growth, (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1957).

Lewis, W. Arthur, The Theory of Economic Growth, (Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1955).

Mason, E. S., Economic Planning in Underdeveloped Areas: Government and Business, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1958).

Myint, H., “An Interpretation of Economic Backwardness,” Oxford Economic Papers, June 1954.

Myrdal, Gunnar, An International Economy, (New York: Harpers, 1957).

North, Douglass G., “A Note on Professor Rostow’s ‘Take-off’ into Self-Sustained Economic Growth,” The Manchester School, January 1958.

Nurkse, Ragnar, Problems of Capital Formation in Underdeveloped Countries, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1953).

Oshima, H. T., “Underemployment in Backward Economies: An Empirical Comment,” Journal of Political Economy, June 1958.

Oshima, H. T., “Economic Growth and the ‘Critical Minimum Effort’,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, July 1959.

Rao, V.K.R.V., “Investment, Income and the Multiplier in an Underdeveloped Economy,” Indian Economic Review, February 1952.

Rosenstein-Rodan, P., “Problems of Industrialization of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe,” Economic Journal, June-September 1943.

Rostow, W. W., “The Take-Off into Self-Sustained Growth,” Economic Journal, March 1956.

Scitovsky, T., “Two Concepts of External Economies,” Journal of Political Economy, April 1954.

Sheahan, John, “International Specialization and the Concept of Balanced Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1958.

Singer, H. W., “The Mechanics of Economic Development, A Quantitative Model Approach,” Indian Economic Review, August 1952.

Solow, R., “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1956.

Stockfisch, J. A., “External Economies, Investment and Foresight,” Journal of Political Economy, October 1955.

Swan, T. W., “Economic Growth and Capital Accumulation,” Economic Record, November 1956.

Tinbergen, J., International Economic Integration, (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1954).

U. N. — Processes and Problems of Industrialization in Under-Developed Countries, (New York: 1955).

Villard, H. H., Economic Development. (New York: Rinehart, 1959).

Young, Allyn, “Increasing Returns and Economic Progress,” Economic Journal, December 1928.

      1. Primarily Historical and Descriptive

Abramovitz, Moses, Resource and Output Trends in the United States Since 1870, (National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.: Occasional Paper 52, 1956).

Bergson, A., Soviet Economic Growth: Conditions and Perspectives, (Evanston, Ill.: Row, Peterson, 1953).

Boeke, Julius H., Economics and Economic Policy of Dual Societies as Exemplified by Indonesia, (New York: International Secretariat, Institute of Pacific Relations, 1953).

Felix, David, “Profit Inflation and Industrial Growth. The Historic Record and Contemporary Analogue,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1956.

Gerschenkron, Alexander, “Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective,” Hoselitz, Bert (ed.), The Progress of Underdeveloped Areas, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1952).

Griliches, Z., “Research Costs and Social Returns: Hybrid Corn and Related Innovations,” Journal of Political Economy, October 1958.

Hagen, Everett B., The Economic Development of Burma, (Washington: National Planning Association, 1956).

Higgins, B., Indonesia’s Economic Stabilization and Development, (New York: Institute of Pacific Relations, 1957).

Hoeffding, Oleg, “Soviet State Planning and Forced Industrialization as a Model for Asia,” (RAND Corporation, August 1958).

Houthakker, H. S., “An International Comparison of Household Expenditure Patterns,” Econometrica, October 1957.

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The Economic Development of Mexico, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1953).

Kuznets, Simon, “Underdeveloped Countries and the Pre-Industrial Phase in the Advanced Countries: An Attempt at Comparison,” Proceedings of the World Population Conference, 1954, (Papers, Volume V, United Nations, New York).

Kuznets, Simon, “Toward a Theory of Economic Growth,” in Lekachman (ed.), National Policy for Economic Welfare at Home and Abroad, (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1955).

Kuznets, Simon, “Economic Growth and Income Inequality,” American Economic Review, March 1955.

Kuznets, Simon, Six Lectures on Economic Growth, (Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1959).

Kuznets, Simon, “Quantitative Aspects of the Economic Growth of Nations,” Economic Development and Cultural Change: “I. Levels and Variability of Rates of Growth,” October 1956; “II. Industrial Distribution of National Product and Labor Force,” July 1957; “III. Industrial Distribution of Income and Labor Force by States, United States, 1919-21 to 1955,” July 1958; “IV. Distribution of National Income by Factor Shares,” April 1959; “V. Capital Formation Proportions: International Comparisons for Recent Years,” July 1960.

Li, Choh Ming, Economic Development of Communist China, (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1959).

Lockwood, W. W., The Economic Development of Japan: Growth, and Structural Change, 1868-1938, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1954).

Malenbaum, Wilfred, “India and China: Contrasts in Development,” American Economic Review, June 1959.

Ranis, Gustav, “Factor Proportions in Japanese Economic Development,” American Economic Review, September 1957.

Reubens, E. P., “Opportunities, Governments, and Economic Development in Manchuria, 1860-1940,” in H.G.J. Aitken (ed.), The State and Economic Growth, (New York: Social Science Research Council, 1959).

Rostow, W. W., The Stages of Economic Growth, (Cambridge University Press, 1960).

“The Satellites in Eastern Europe,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, May 1958.

Schultz, T. W. “Capital Formation by Education,” to be published in the Journal of Political Economy, December 1960.

Solomon, Morton, “The Structure of the Market in Underdeveloped Economies,” in Shannon, Lyle W. (ed.), Underdeveloped Areas: a Book of Readings and Research, (New York: Harper, 1957).

Solow, R., “Technical Change and The Aggregate Production Function,” Review of Economics and Statistics, August 1957.

Thompson, C. H. and Woodraff, H. W., Economic Development in Rhodesia and Nyasaland, (London: Dennis Dobson, 1955).

U.N. — Economic Survey of Africa since 1950, (New York: 1959).

U.N. — Structure and Growth of Selected African Economies, (New York: 1957).

Zinkin, M., Development for Free Asia, (Fairlawn, New Jersey: Essential Books, Inc., 1956).

    1. PLANNING
      1. Primarily Theoretical

Bator, F. F., “On Capital Productivity, Input Allocation, and Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1957.

Chenery, H. B., “The Application of Investment Criteria,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1953.

Chenery, H. B., “Development Policies and Programmes,” Economic Bulletin for Latin America, March 1958.

Chenery, H. B., “The Interdependence of Investment Decisions,” in The Allocation of Economic Resources, Essays in Honor of B. F. Haley, (Stanford University Press, 1959).

Dobb, M., Economic Growth and Planning. (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1960).

Eckaus, R. S., “The Factor Proportions Problem in Underdeveloped Areas,” American Economic Review, September 1955.

Eckstein, O., “Investment Criteria for Economic Development and the Theory of Intertemporal Welfare Economics,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1957.

Galenson, W. and Leibenstein, H., “Investment Criteria, Productivity and Economic Development,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1955.

Lewis, W. A., The Principles of Economic Planning, (London: Dennis Dobson, 1952).

Lewis, W. A., “On Assessing a Development Plan,” The Economic Bulletin, (Ghana) June-July 1959.

Muranjam, S. K., “The Tools of Planning,” Indian Economic Journal, January 1957.

Sen, A. K., “Some Notes on the Choice of Capital-Intensity in Development Planning,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1957.

Sen, A. K., “Choice of Capital Intensity Further Considered,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1959.

Tinbergen, J., “The Optimum Rate of Saving,” Economic Journal, December 1956.

Tinbergen, J., The Design of Development, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1958).

Tinbergen, J., Optimum Savings and Utility Maximization Over Time,” Econometrica, April 1960.

U. S. Department of State, Office of Intelligence Research, “Use of the Capital-Output Ratio in Programming and Analyzing Economic Development,” February 1956.

      1. Primarily Descriptive

Aubrey, Henry, “Small Industry in Economic Development,” Social Research, September 1951.

Baer, Werner, “Puerto Rico: An Evaluation of a Successful Development Program,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1959.

Bicanic, Rudolph, “Economic Growth Under Centralized and Decentralized Planning — A Case Study,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, October 1957.

Gadgil, D. R., “Prospects for the Second Five-Year Plan Period,” India Quarterly, Vol. XIII, (January-March 1957), p. 5.

Government of Ceylon, National Planning Council, Papers by Visiting Economists, (Colombo: 1959).

Hsia, R., Economic Planning in Communist China, (New York: International Secretariat, Institute of Pacific Relations, 1955).

Government of India, Planning Commission, “Memorandum of the Panel of Economists and Note of Dissent by Prof. B. R. Shenoy,” and “The Plan Frame,” Papers Relating to the Formulation of the Second Five Year Plan, (Delhi: 1955).

Government of India, Planning Commission, “Development of the Economy,” and “Approach to the Second Five Year Plan,” Second Five Year Plan, (Delhi: 1956).

Komiya, R., “A Note on Professor Mahalanobis’ Model of Indian Economic Planning, Review of Economics and Statistics, February 1959.

Government of Pakistan, National Planning Board, “Planning the Development Programme,” and “Putting the Development Programme into Operation,” First Five Year Plan, 1955-60, (Karachi: Government of Pakistan, 1957).

    1. MOBILIZATION OF RESOURCES
      1. Domestic Resources

Bernstein, E. M. and Patel, I. G., Inflation in Relation to Economic Development (International Monetary Fund, 1952).

Bloomfield, Arthur I., “Monetary Policy in Underdeveloped Countries,” Public Policy, Vol. VII, (Cambridge, Mass.: Graduate School Public Administration, 1956).

Bronfenbrenner, M., “The Appeal of Confiscation in Economic Development,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, April 1955.

Diamond, W., Development Banks, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1957).

Froomkin, Joseph, “A Program for Taxation and Economic Development — The Indian Case,” (Review article of Report of Indian Taxation Enquiry Commission, 1953-54), Economic Development and Cultural Change, January 1958.

Government of India, Planning Commission, “Finance and Foreign Exchange,” Second Five Year Plan, (Delhi: 1956).

Kaldor, Nicholas, Indian Tax Reform: Report of a Survey, (New Delhi: Indian Ministry of Finance, 1956).

Lewis, W. A., “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour,” The Manchester School, May 1954.

Martin, A. M. and Lewis, W. A., “Patterns of Public Revenue and Expenditure,” The Manchester School, September 1956.

Oshima, H. T., “Share of Government in Gross National Product for Various Countries,” American Economic Review, June 1957.

Government of Pakistan, National Planning Board, “Internal Financial Resources,” and “Public Savings,” First Five Year Plan, 1955-60, (Karachi: 1957).

Sturmthal, Adolph, “Economic Development, Income Distribution, and Capital Formation in Mexico,” Journal of Political Economy, June 1955.

Wald, H. P., Taxation of Agricultural Land in Underdeveloped Economies, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1959).

      1. Foreign Private Investment

Finnie, David H., Desert Enterprise: The Middle East Oil Industry in its Local Environment, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1958).

Mikesell, Raymond F., Promoting U. S. Private Investment Abroad, (Washington: National Planning Association, 1957).

Wolf, Charles and Sufrin, Sidney, Capital Formation and Foreign Investment in Underdeveloped Areas, (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1955).

      1. Foreign Public Grants and Loans

The American Assembly, International Stability and Progress: United States Interests and Instruments, (New York: Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, 1957).

Cairncross, Alec, The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, (Princeton University Essays in International Finance, No. 33, March 1959).

Friedman, Milton, “Foreign Economic Aid,” Yale Review. Summer 1958.

Millikan, Max F. and Rostow, W. W., A Proposal, Key to an Effective Foreign Policy, (New York: Harper Bros., 1957).

Report of The President’s Committee to Study the United States Military Assistance Program, (Washington: August 17, 1959).

Sapir, M., The New Role of the Soviets in the World Economy, (New York: Committee for Economic Development, 1958).

Wolf, C., Foreign Aid: Theory and Practice in Southern Asia, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1960).

    1. INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Bauer, Peter T., West African Trade, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1954).

Haberler, G., Campos, R., Meade, J., and Tinbergen, J., Trends in International Trade, (Geneva: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1958).

Haberler, G., International Trade and Economic Development, (Cairo: National, Bank of Egypt, 1959).

Mikesell, R. F., Foreign Exchange in the Postwar World, (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1954).

Myint, H., “The Classical Theory of International Trade and the Underdeveloped Countries,” Economic Journal, June 1958.

Nurkse, R., et. al, “The Quest for a Stabilization Policy in Primary Producing Countries: A Symposium,” Kyklos, 1958

Nurkse, R., Patterns of Trade and Development, (Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell, 1959).

U. N. — Instability in Export Markets of Underdeveloped Countries, (New York: 1952).

    1. LAND AND AGRICULTURE

Baldwin, K. D. S., The Niger Agricultural Project, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1957).

Black, John D. and Stewart, H. L., Economics of Agriculture for India, (Delhi: Government of India, 1954).

Darling, Malcolm L., The Punjab Peasant in Prosperity and Debt (New York: Oxford University Press, 1925).

Gaitskell, Arthur, Gezira. A Story of Development in the Sudan, (London: Faber and Faber, 1959).

Johnston, Bruce, The Staple Food Economies of Western Tropical Africa, (Stanford University Press, 1958).

Mellor, John W. and Stevens, Robert D., “The Average and Marginal Product of Farm Labor in Underdeveloped Economies,” Journal of Farm Economics, August 1956.

Neale, Walter C., “The Limitations of Indian Village Survey Data,” Journal of Asian Studies, May 1958.

U. N. — “Productivity of Labour and Land in Latin American Agriculture,” Economic Survey of Latin America, 1956.

U. N. — Food and Agriculture Organization, Uses of Agricultural Surpluses to Finance Economic Development, (Rome: 1955).

Warriner, Doreen, Land Reform and Economic Development in the Middle East, (London: 1957).

Wickizer, V. D. and Bennett, M. K., The Rice Economy of Monsoon Asia, (Stanford University Press, 1941).

    1. LABOR

de Buey, P., “The Productivity of African Labour,” International Labour Review, August-September 1955.

Galenson, W. (ed.), Labor and Economic Development, (New York: Wiley, 1959).

Husain, A. F. A., Human and Social Impact of Technological Change in Pakistan, Vol. 1, (Pakistan: Oxford University Press, 1956).

Kerr, C., Dunlop, J. T., Harbison, F. C., Myers, C. A., Industrialism and Industrial Man, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960).

Moore, Wilbert Ellis, Industrialization and Labor, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1952).

Sayigh, Yusif A., “Management-Labour Relations in Selected Arab Countries: Major Aspects and Determinants,” International Labour Review, June 1958.

Myers, Charles, Problems of Labor in the Industrialization of India, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958).

    1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Aubrey, Henry G., “Industrial Investment Decisions: A Comparative Analysis,” Journal of Economic History, December 1955.

Eckstein, Alexander, “Individualism and the Role of the State in Economic Growth,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, January 1958.

Harbison, Frederick, “Entrepreneurial Organization as a Factor in Economic Development,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1956.

Prakesh, O., “Industrial Development Corporations in India and Pakistan,” Economic Journal, March 1957.

UNESCO, “Economic Motivations and Stimulations in Underdeveloped Countries,” International Social Science Bulletin, Vol. VI, No. 3, 1954.

    1. POPULATION

Coale, A. and Hoover, E. M., Population Growth and Economic Development in Low-income Countries, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958).

Hagen, E. E., “Population and Economic Growth,” American Economic Review, June 1959.

Taeuber, Irene, The Population of Japan, (Princeton: 1958).

U. N. — Department of Social Affairs, The Determinants and Consequences of Population Trends, (New York: 1953).

U. N. — Technical Assistance Administration, Asia and the Far East: Seminar on Population, (New York: 1957).

    1. MEASUREMENT OF NATIONAL INCOME

Abramovitz, M., “The Welfare Interpretation of Secular Trends in National Income and Product,” in The Allocation of Economic Resources, Essays in Honor of B. F. Haley, (Stanford University Press, 1959).

Deane, Phyllis, Colonial Social Accounting, (Cambridge University Press, 1953).

Goldsmith, Raymond and Saunders, Christopher, (ed.), “The Measurement of National Wealth,” Income and Wealth Series VIII, (London: Bowes and Bowes, 1959).

Income and Wealth: Series III, (International Association for Research in Income and Wealth), (Cambridge: Bowes and Bowes, 1953), especially contributions by Frankel, Benham, Rao, and Creamer.

Kravis, I. B., “The Scope of Economic Activity in International Income Comparisons,” in Problems in the International Comparison of Economic Accounts, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 20, (Princeton University Press, 1957).

Kuznets, Simon, Economic Change, (New York: Norton, 1953).

    1. POLITICAL, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL FACTORS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Almond, Gabriel A. and Coleman, James S., The Politics of the Developing Areas, (Princeton University Press, 1960).

Banfield, E. C., The Moral Basis of a Backward Society, (Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1958).

Baster, Janes, “Development and the Free Economy — Some Typical Dilemmas,” Kyklos, Vol. VII, 1954.

Brzezinski, Zbigniew, “The Politics of Underdevelopment,” World Politics, October 1956.

Dike, K. O., Trade and Polities in the Niger Delta, (Oxford: 1956).

Dube, S. C., India’s Changing Villages, (Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press, 1958).

Farmanfarmaian, Khodadad, “Social Change and Economic Behavior in Iran,” Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, February 1957.

Hoselitz, Bert F. (ed.), The Progress of Underdeveloped Areas, (University of Chicago Press, 1952).

McClelland, David C., “Some Social Consequences of Achievement Motivation,” in Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, (University of Nebraska Press, 1955).

McKitterick, T. E. M., “Politics and Economics in the Middle East,” The Political Quarterly, January-March 1955.

Oliver, Henry M., Economic Opinion and Policy in Ceylon, (Durham: Duke University Press, 1957).

Shea, T. W., “Barriers to Economic Development in Traditional Societies: Malabar, A Case Study,” Journal of Economic History, December 1959.

Singer, Milton, “Cultural Values in India’s Economic Development,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, May 1956.

U. N. — “Three Sociological Aspects of Economic Development,” Economic Review of Latin America, 1955.

Weiner, M., “Changing Patterns of Political Leadership in West Bengal,” Pacific Affairs, September 1959.

  1. OTHER BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Hald, Marjorie, A Selected Bibliography on Economic Development and Foreign Aid, (Santa Monica, California: RAND Corporation, 1957).

Hazelwood, Arthur, The Economies of ‘Under-Developed’ Areas, (London: Oxford University Press, second edition, 1959).

Trager, Frank N. “A Selected and Annotated Bibliography on Economic Development, 1953-57,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, July 1958.

  1. SOME MAJOR COMPILATIONS OF STATISTICAL INFORMATION

U. K. Government, Board of Trade, Overseas Economic Surveys.

International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics.

International Labour Office, International Labour Review — Statistical Supplement.

United Nations, Statistical Office, Statistical Papers (various series).

United Nations, Statistical Office, Statistical Yearbook.

United Nations, Statistical Office, Demographic Yearbook.

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Public Finance Information Papers.

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Economic Surveys (for various regions).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003.Box 8, Folder “Economics 1960-61 (2 of 2)”.

Images: Portrait of Edward S. Mason (ca. 1960) from the Harry S. Truman Library. Portrait of John Kenneth Galbraith from the Harvard Class Album 1959.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Industrial Organization Problem Sets

Harvard. Economics of Corporations. Report assignments and final exam. Ripley, 1906-1907

This version of William Ripley’s course on corporations was the fourth time of what would become a standard offering. He was an institutionalist-style economist who wallowed in the utter variety of economic organisations, be they on the side of labor or corporate capital. These did not fit neatly into the perfectly competitive theory of markets. He was interested in larger molecules and not so much in the atoms of economic life.

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Other Corporations/Industrial Organization Related Posts
for William Z. Ripley

Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, 1902-1903.

Economics of Corporations, 1903-1904.

Economics of Corporations, 1904-05 (with Vanderveer Custis)

Economics of Corporations, 1914-1915.

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Course Readings

Cases for the course are most certainly found in Trusts, Pools and Corporations (1905), edited with an introduction by William Z. Ripley. From the series of Volumes Selections and Documents in Economics, edited by William Z. Ripley published by Ginn and Company, Boston.

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 9b 2hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Dr. [Stuart] Daggett. — Economics of Corporations.

Total 236: 11 Graduates, 70 Seniors, 103 Juniors, 40 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

1907
ECONOMICS 92

ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS.

Exact references by title, volume, and page must be given in foot-notes for all facts cited! This condition is absolutely imperative. Failure to comply with it will vitiate the entire report.

GROUP A

Students will report upon the organization and present character of one industrial combination in the United States. This will be indicated by a number, placed against the student’s name on the enrolment slip, which number refers to the industrial combination similarly numbered on this sheet. See directions on last page.

GROUP B

Students will compare the character and extent of industrial control in two different industries in the United States. These are indicated by numbers given below, which are posted against the student’s name on the enrolment slip. The aim should be to point out and explain any discoverable differences in the nature or extent of the industrial monopoly attained in the two industries concerned. Mere description of conditions in either case will not suffice; actual comparison is demanded. The parallel column method is suggested. See directions on last page.

GROUP C

Students will compare industrial combinations in different countries of Europe with one another, or with corresponding ones in the United States. The assignment of industries will be made by numbers, referring to the list below, these numbers being posted against the student’s name on the enrolment slip. Mere description will not be accepted; the student will be judged by the degree of critical comparison offered. Parallel columns may be used to advantage. See directions on last page.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The letters preceding the assignment number against the student’s name refer to the group in which the report is to be made. Thus, for example: “31 A” on the enrolment slip indicates that the student is to report upon the American Cotton Oil Co.; “2 & 64 B,” that a comparison of the American Bridge Co. and the United States Leather Co. in the United States is expected; while “59 & 158 C” calls for an international comparison of industrial organizations in thread manufacture as described under Group C.

INDUSTRIAL COMBINATIONS
IN THE UNITED STATES

A star indicates that data will be found in Industrial Commission Reports, Vol. I or XIII.

  1. American Axe and Tool Co., 1889.
  2. American Bridge Co., 1900. (See No. 123.)
  3. American Iron and Steel Mfg. Co., 1899.
  4. American Steel Foundries Co., 1902.
  5. *American Radiator Co., 1899.
  6. *American Sheet Steel Co., 1900. (See No. 123.)
  7. *American Steel and Wire Co. of New Jersey, 1899, (See No. 123.)
  8. American Steel Casting Co., 1894.
  9. *American Steel Hoop Co., 1899. (See No. 128.)
  10. *American Tin Plate Co., 1898. (See No. 123.)
  11. *Federal Steel Co., 1898. (See No. 123.)
  12. International Steam Pump Co., 1899.
  13. *National Shear Co., 1898.
  14. *National Steel Co., 1899. (See No. 123.)
  15. National Tube Co., 1899. (See No. 123.)
  16. *Otis Elevator Co., 1898.
  17. Republic Iron and Steel Co., 1899.
  18. United Shoe Machinery Co., 1899.
  19. United States Cast Iron Pipe and Foundry Co., 1899.
  20. American Beet Sugar Co., 1899.
  21. *American Chicle Co., 1899.
  22. Corn Products Co., 1902.
  23. *American Sugar Refining Co., 1891.
  24. *Glucose Sugar Refining Co., 1897.
  25. *National Biscuit Co., 1898.
  26. National Sugar Refining Co., 1900.
  27. *Royal Baking Powder Co., 1899.
  28. United States Flour Milling Co., 1899.
  29. *American Fisheries Co., 1899.
  30. American Agricultural Chemical Co., 1899.
  31. *American Cotton Oil Co., 1889.
  32. American Linseed Co., 1898.
  33. *Fisheries Co., The, 1900.
  34. *General Chemical Co., 1899.
  35. *National Salt Co., 1899.
  36. *National Starch Manufacturing Co., 1890.
  37. *Standard Oil Co., 1882.
  38. Virginia-Carolina Chemical Co., 1895.
  39. American Shot and Lead Co., 1890.
  40. American Smelting and Refining Co., 1899.
  41. American Type Founders Co., 1892.
  42. *International Silver Co., 1898.
  43. National Lead Co., 1891.
  44. American Malting Co., 1897.
  45. American Spirits Manufacturing Co., 1895.
  46. Kentucky Distilleries and Warehouse Co., 1899.
  47. Pittsburgh Brewing Co., 1899.
  48. St. Louis Brewing Association, 1889.
  49. Standard Distilling and Distributing Co., 1898.
  50. *American Bicycle Co., 1899. (Now Pope Bicyele Co.)
  51. American Car and Foundry Co., 1899.
  52. *Pressed Steel Car Co., 1899.
  53. Pullman Co., The, 1899.
  54. American Snuff Co., 1900.
  55. *American Tobacco Co., 1890.
  56. *Continental Tobacco Co., 1898.
  57. *National Cordage Co., 1887. (See No. 62.)
  58. American Felt Co., 1899.
  59. *American Thread Co., 1898.
  60. American Woolen Co., 1899.
  61. New England Cotton Yarn Co., 1899.
  62. *Standard Rope and Twine Co., 1895. (See No. 57.)
  63. American Hide and Leather Co., 1899.
  64. *United States Leather Co., 1893-1905.
  65. American Straw Board Co., 1889.
  66. American Writing Paper Co., 1899.
  67. International Paper Co., 1898.
  68. *National Wall Paper Co., 1892-1905.
  69. Union Bag and Paper Co., 1899.
  70. United States Envelope Co., 1898.
  71. American Clay Manufacturing Co., 1900.
  72. American Window Glass Co., 1899.
  73. International Pulp Co., 1893.
  74. National Fire Proofing Co., 1899.
  75. *National Glass Co., 1899,
  76. *Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., 1895.
  77. United States Glass Co., 1891.
  78. American School Furniture Co., 1899.
  79. Diamond Match Co., 1889,
  80. National Casket Co., 1890
  81. United States Bobbin and Shuttle Co., 1899,
  82. American Glue Co., 1894.
  83. American Ice Co., 1899.
  84. American Shipbuilding Co., 1899.
  85. American Soda Fountain Co., 1891,
  86. *General Aristo Co. (Photography), 1899.
  87. Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co., 1899.
  88. United States Rubber Co., 1892.
  89. Allis-Chalmers Co., 1901.
  90. American Cigar Co., 1901.
  91. American Grass Twine Co., 1899.
  92. American Light and Traction Co., 1901.
  93. American Locomotive Co., 1901.
  94. American Machine and Ordnance Co., 1902.
  95. American Packing Co., 1902.
  96. American Plow Co., 1901.
  97. American Sewer Pipe Co., 1900.
  98. American Steel Foundries Co., 1902.
  99. Associated Merchants Co., 1901.
  100. Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co., 1902.
  101. Consolidated Railway Lighting and Refrig. Co., 1901.
  102. Consolidated Tobacco Co., 1901.
  103. Corn Products Co., 1902.
  104. Crucible Steel Co., of America, 1900.
  105. Eastman Kodak Co., 1901.
  106. International Harvester Co., 1902.
  107. International Salt Co., 1901. (Also National Salt Co.)
  108. *Jones & Laughlin Steel Co., 1902.
  109. *National Asphalt Co., 1900.
  110. New England Consolidated Ice Co., 1902.
  111. New York Dock Co., 1901.
  112. Pacific Hardware and Steel Co., 1902.
  113. Pennsylvania Steel Co., 1901,
  114. Railway Steel Spring Co., 1902.
  115. International Mercantile Marine Co., 1902.
  116. Northern Securities Co., 1901. (See Library Catalogue.)
  117. United Box, Board and Paper Co., 1902.
  118. United Copper Co., 1902.
  119. United States Cotton Duck Corporation, 1901.
  120. United States Realty and Construction Co., 1902.
  121. United States Reduction and Refining Co., 1901.
  122. United States Shipbuilding Co., 1902.
  123. American Tobacco Co., 1903.
  124. Central Leather Co.
  125. American Ice Securities Co.
  126. Amalgamated Copper Co.
  127. General Electric Co.
  128. United Shoe Machinery Co.
  129. American Telephone and Telegraph Co.
  130. United Gas Improvement Co.
  131. Interborough-Metropolitan Co.
  132. Mass. Electric Companies.
  133. Mass. Gas Companies.
  134. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co.
  135. Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co.
  136. N. Y. Consolidated Gas Co.
  137. American Express Co.
  138. Adams Express Co.
  139. United States Steel Corporation; Promotion.
  140. United States Steel Corporation; Financial Development.
  141. United States Steel Corporation; Bond Conversion.
  142. United States Steel Corporation; Relations to Employees.
  143. United States Steel Corporation; Earnings, Quotations and Business.

INDUSTRIAL COMBINATIONS IN EUROPE.

[Consult: Industrial Commission, Vol. XVIII; U.S. Special Consular Reports, Vol. XXI, Part III; and London Economist on England since 1895; Griffin’s Library of Congress List of Books on Trusts, 1902, p. 35; and for the respective countries, Stock Exchange Official Intelligence (Lib 5230.7), Salling’s Börsenpapiere (Lib. 5234.5.2), and Annuaire Général des Sociétés françaises par Action (5232.5), On Germany consult also Kontradictorische Verhandlungen über deutsche Kartelle (Lib., Econ. 3871.1).]

  1. Canadian Iron Founders’ Association. (See Canadian Commission on Trusts, 1888.)
  2. *Bleachers’ Association, England.
  3. *Iron Combination, France.
  4. *Iron Combination, Germany. (Stahlwerkverband.)
  5. *Rhenish-Westphalian Coal Syndicate.
  6. *Spirits Combination, Germany.
  7. *United Pencil Factories’ Company, Germany.
  8. *Portland Cement Manufacturers’ Association, England.
  9. *Bradford Dyers’ Association, England.
  10. *Brass Bedstead Association, England.
  11. *British Cotton and Wool Dyers’ Association.
  12. *British Oil and Cake Mills.
  13. *Calico Printers’ Association, England.
  14. *Wall Paper Manufacturers’ Association, England.
  15. *English Sewing Cotton Co.
  16. *Petroleum Combination, Germany.
  17. *Petroleum Combination, France.
  18. *Sugar Combination, Germany.
  19. *Sugar Combination, Austria.
  20. German Salt Combination.
  21. German Potash Combination.
  22. International Sulphur Trust.

DIRECTIONS.

All books here referred to are reserved in Gore Hall.

First.—Secure if possible by correspondence, enclosing ten cents postage, the last or recent annual reports of the company. Unless they are “listed” on the stock exchanges, no reports will be furnished. P. O. addresses for American corporations will be found in the latest Moody’s Manual of Corporation Securities; in 12th U. S. Census, 1900, Manufactures, Part I, p. lxxxvi; in the latest Investors’ Supplement, N. Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle; or in the Manual of Statistics.

Second.—In all cases where possible (starred on list) consult Vols. I, XIII, or XVIII, U. S. Industrial Commission Reports. Read appropriate testimony in full, consulting lists of witnesses, Vol. I, p. 1263, and Vol. XIII, p. 979; and also using the index and digests freely. Always follow up all cross references in foot-notes in the digests. Duplicate sets of these Reports are in Gore and Harvard Halls.

Third.—For companies organized prior to 1900 look through the bibliography and index in Halle or Jenks for references; and also in Griffin’s Library of Congress List.

Fourth.—Work back carefully through the files of Moody’s Manual of Corporations and of the Investors’ Supplement, N. Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle. These Supplements, prior to 1902, are bound in with the regular issues of the Chronicle, one number in each volume. Since 1901 they are separately bound for each year. The Investors’ Supplement will be recognized by its gray paper cover, and must be carefully distinguished from the other supplements of the Chronicle. Market prices of securities are given in a distinct Bank and Quotation Supplement, also bound up with the Chronicle. Having found the company in the Investors’ Supplement, follow up all references to articles in the Commercial and Financial Chronicle as given by volume and page. Also use the general index of the latter, separately, for each year since the company was organized.

The files of Bradstreets should also be used, noting carefully that the index in each volume is in three separate divisions, “Editorials” being the most important. The course of prices is summarized at the end of each year in January Bradstreets, and also in Bulletin U. S. Dept. of Labor, No. 29.

Fifth.—The files of trade publications should also be consulted. Among these are Bulletin of the National Wool Manufacturers’ Association, The Iron Age, Dry Goods Economist, etc. (Boston Public Library.)

Sixth.—Read carefully in the U.S. Census the special reports on industries; and compile all data possible as to the growth and development of the industry in general, by means of statistics of production, exports and imports, number of employees and capital invested.

The course of prices of securities in detail for many companies is given in Industrial Commission Reports, Vol. XIII, p. 918, et seq.

As for the form of the reports all pertinent matter may be introduced, proper references to authorities being given. Particular attention is directed to the extent of control, nature and value of physical plant, mode of selling products and fixing prices, amount and character of capitalization, with the purpose for which it was issued, relative market prices of different securities as well as of dividends paid through a series of years, degree of publicity in reports, etc. Mere history is of minor importance, unless it be used to explain some features of the existing situation.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1906-1907”.

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ECONOMICS 9b
Year-end Examination, 1906-07

  1. Why was the Sherman Act passed when it was? Describe the general situation.
  2. Show how the competition of a large producer — an industrial combination, for example — located at a distance may operate to restrict the market of a smaller independent concern. Can you suggest any remedy; or is it inevitable?
  3. Invent two cases, typical of the most frequent form of controversies at common law, raising the issue of restraint of trade. Develope (sic) the reasoning involved.
  4. What was “an immunity bath”? How was the matter dealt with by Congress?
  5. Meade gives five reasons for the inferior investment value of industrial, as compared with railway bonds. What are they, succinctly stated?
  6. “The principal point is this: in England the promoters’ and middlemens’ profit is added to the nominal capital of a company, whilst in Germany it is added to the price of the shares.” Show the possible effects of this difference upon each party concerned.
  7. What remedies proposed by Attorney General Knox in 1903 (Trusts, Pools, and Corporations, pp. 262-288) have since been enacted into law? Have new solutions been proposed?
  8. Upon which of the three possible theories for the issuance of corporate capital are the laws of the following states based; viz.: (a) Massachusetts; (b) New Jersey; (c) England.
  9. Outline the experience of the American Window Glass Co. in dealing with labor organizations.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), p. 33.

Image Source: Share of the Standard Oil Company, issued 1. May 1878. FromWikimedia Commons.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Labor

Harvard. Enrollment and Final Exam, Labor Problems. Ripley, 1906-1907

This post provides material from William Zebina Ripley’s fifth iteration of his labor economics course at Harvard. A quick search using the usual internet sources that have proven handy for Economics in the Rear-view Mirror picked up a few facts about the teaching assistant for the course who would have been a law student at the time.

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Meet the course teaching assistant

Edwin DeTurck Bechtel.

b. 19 Aug 1880 in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania
d. 4. Jul 1957 in Bedford Four Corners, New York

Home: Calcium, Pennsylvania. High School in Reading, Pennsylvania. Recipient of the Price Greenleaf Scholarship.
Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President, 1901-02, p. 116.

A.B. (Harvard) 1903, A.M. (Harvard) 1904. ― Resident Graduate Student, 1903-04. ― Student of Social Science at Harvard. Continuing his studies in social science in Europe, as Robert Treat Paine Fellow (1903-04).
Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President, 1903-04, p. 157.

Student, Harvard Law School
Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President, 1904-05, p. 161.

Worked for theWall Street law firm Carter, Ledyard & Milburn at least as early as December 1916. Represented American Express in London and Paris for some urgent matter in early 1917. (Passport Application from December 21, 1916: includes a signed statement by his sister that the family settled in Pennsylvania prior to 1750). According to his World War II draft registration form (25 Apr 1942), he was still working at the same Wall Street law firm. He died in Bedford Four Corners, New York on July 4, 1957. He became a noted expert on roses.
Source: Items at the genealogical website ancestry.com.

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Other Labor Related Posts
for William Z. Ripley

Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, 1902-1903.

Problems of Labor, 1903-1904.

Problems of Labor, 1904-05.

Problems of Labor, 1905-06.

Short Bibliography of Trade Unionism, 1910.

Short Bibliography of Strikes and Boycotts, 1910.

Trade Unionism and Allied Problems, 1914-1915.

Problems of Labor, 1931.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 9a 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. E. DeT. Bechtel. — Problems of Labor.

Total 100: 8 Graduates, 35 Seniors, 33 Juniors, 18 Sophomores, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 9a
Mid-Year Examination, 1906-07

  1. What is the difference between an “Allied Trades Council” and a “Federal Union”? Where are they to be found respectively, and what are their functions?
  2. Is there any difference in principle between the British Workmen’s Compensation Act and the German Compulsory Insurance Acts? If so, what is it?
  3. What are some of the legislative remedies proposed for the abuse of the injunction as applied to labor disputes? Criticise them.
  4. In what respects are American Industrial conditions different from those of the Australian colonies? Do these explain the differences in labor legislation in part? If so, how?
  5. What are the two most tangible results of the Australian labor legislation? Explain how they have come about.
  6. In the Higgling of the Market to determine rates of income, what are some of the advantages, or “bulwarks” as Webb styles them, which are enjoyed by the employer? What offsets has the workman?
  7. In what different ways may the non-union man be dealt with in Collective Bargains? Instance concrete examples.
  8. State briefly, but without discussion, three points in favor of, and three arguments against the German Compulsory Insurance Acts.
  9. What is the attitude of Trade Unionists in general toward incorporation? What substitute for incorporation, which will accomplish the same purpose, can you suggest?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking

Harvard. Exams for Money and Banking. Andrew, 1906-1907

A two course sequence covering money, banking and foreign exchange became an established specialty field at the beginning of the twentieth century. Assistant Professor A. Piatt Andrew covered that field at Harvard.

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Previous course materials for
Money and Banking 

1900-01 (Meyer and Sprague)
1901-02 (Andrew, Sprague, Meyer)
1902-03 (Andrew’s money exam, Sprague’s banking exam)
1903-04 (Andrew and Sprague)
1904-05 (Andrew’s money exam, Sprague’s banking exam)
1905-06 (Andrew’s money and banking exams)

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Course Enrollment 1906-07
Money, first semester

Economics 8a 1hf. Asst. Professor Andrew. — Money. A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times.

Total 50: 4 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 22 Juniors, 10 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 8a
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

  1. Why was the Latin Monetary Union instituted? Why does it continue to exist? What conclusions of general significance can be drawn from its history?
  2. When may the levying of a seignorage be expected to result in rising prices? Falling prices? Stationary prices?
  3. “It is possible to introduce either a system of bi-metallism which will make prices fall, or one which will make them rise.” Explain these two systems, and show why they would affect prices in such ways.
  4. How is the increasing gold supply likely to affect —
    1. the interests of the working classes?
    2. the prosperity of business?
    3. the income of persons living upon a salary?
    4. the price of real estate?
    5. the price of bonds?
      Explain the reasons in each case.
  5. Explain the character, merits, and defects of —
    (a) the mathematical mean, (b) the geometrical mean, (c) the median, (d) the mode, (e) weighted averages, as methods of measuring changes in the value of money.
  1. “If an ounce of gold, which would be coined into the equivalent of £3 17s 10½ d, is sold for £4 or £5 in paper, the value of the currency has sunk just that much below what the value of a metallic currency would be.” — Mill, II, p. 92. What is your opinion of this statement?
  2. What does Darwin mean by the labor standard? By the commodity standard? Explain the merits claimed for each, and show the exemplification of the two standards in the history of the precious metals between 1873 and 1896. Has either been exemplified in the history of gold or silver since 1896?
  3. Enumerate the different kinds of money now current in the United States, and explain the circumstances and conditions of their issue.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07. A copy is also found in Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 30-31.

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Course Enrollment, 1906-07
Banking, second semester

Economics 8b 2hf. Asst. Professor Andrew. — Banking and Foreign Exchange.

Total 82: 3 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 32 Juniors, 30 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 8b
Year-end Examination, 1906-7

Omit one question
  1. Name and characterize briefly the various classes of banks existing in (a) the United States, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) France, and (e) Germany.
    Name when possible a few leading examples of each class.
  2. What is meant in England by the official Bank rate, the actual Bank rate, the deposit rate, the market rates?
    Suppose that the official rate is raised from 4% to 5%, to what extent will the other rates probably be affected? and why?
    Would the answer have been different thirty years ago?
  3. In what manner and to what extent does the government derive especial advantage in the way of revenue and of services from the banks in the United States? in England? in Germany?
  4. It has been said that “any amount of credit may be created … so long as the claims held by the bank are based upon actual and salable property.”
    Mention any person or persons to whom one might attribute this opinion. Would you accept it?
  5. Express and illustrate the various circumstances under which American quotations of exchange upon France may (1) exceed, and (2) fall short of the nominal gold points.
  6. In your opinion did Andrew Jackson’s policy work permanent benefit or permanent harm to the banking interests of the country? State reasons.
  7. Explain briefly the innovations made by Secretary Shaw in the relations of the Treasury with the banks, and state your opinion of the general policy involved therein.
  8. What contributions to the development of banking in England were made by the authors of (a) “The Bullion Report,” (b) “Lombard Street”?
    In what ways and how far are the principles there presented applicable to the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 31-32.

Image Source: A. Piatt Andrew’s The Red Roof Guestbook, 1914-1930. Available at the Historic New England Website. Henry Davis Sleeper (Andrew’s neighbor on the left) and A. Piatt Andrew Jr. (right).

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exam for European economic history (19th century). Gay, 1906-1907

Before Abbott Payson Usher (1883-1965) and Alexander Gerschenkron (1904-1978) and after William Ashley (1860-1927), Professor Edwin Francis Gay (1867-1946) taught European Economic history in the Harvard economics department. This post adds to the collection of his examination questions transcribed and posted at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Previously posted:
European economic history
taught at Harvard

A brief course description for Economics 11 plus the exams from 1902-03.

Exams for 1903-04.

Exams for 1904-05.

Exams for 1905-06

A short bibliography for “serious students” of economic history assembled by Gay and published in 1910 has also been posted.

Gay and Usher’s economic history exams from 1930 through 1949.

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 6a 1hf. Professor Gay. — European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 73: 17 Graduates, 20 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 6a
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

  1. Compare the conditions of land-ownership in England, France and Germany during the first half of the nineteenth century. Explain the differences.
  2. [European tariff policies]
    1. Date the liberal period in the tariff history of the chief European countries.
    2. Why was the English Corn Law repealed?
    3. Give a brief account of the tariff history of Germany since the formation of the Zollverein.
  3. What consequences, according to Chevalier, would follow from the increased production of gold?
  4. [Railroad policies]
    1. When and for what reasons did the states of Germany and Russia obtain ownership of the railroads? What value has their experience for other countries?
    2. State Hadley’s criticism of the English Railway Commission.
  5. Describe briefly the extent, causes and results of the agricultural depression in Europe.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

Image SourceWikimediaCommons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Reading list and Exam for U.S. Economic History. Gay, 1906-1907

Edwin Francis Gay solo-taught the course on U.S. economic and financial history in 1906-07. He modified and expanded the course reading list from that used in the previous year by him and Taussig, but the structure of the course nonetheless appears to have been essentially unchanged.

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Previously…

Assistant Professor Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague taught the Harvard course “Economic History of the United States”/ “Economic and Financial History of the United States” in 1901-02 (with James Horace Patten), 1902-03, 1903-04, and 1904-05. The course was taken over in 1905-06 by Frank William Taussig and Edwin Francis Gay after Sprague left for a full professorship at the Imperial University of Japan. The Taussig/Gay reading list and final exam for 1905-06.

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 6b 2hf. Professor [Edwin Francis] Gay. — Economic and Financial History of the United States.

Total 112: 20 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 25 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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Course Reading List
1906-07

[Library Stamp: “May 13, 1907”]

ECONOMICS: 6b

Required Reading is indicated by an asterisk (*)

1. COLONIAL PERIOD.

*Ashley, Commercial Legislation of England and the American Colonies, Q.J.E., Vol. XIV, pp. 1-29; printed also in Ashley’s Surveys, pp. 309-335.

*Semple, American History and its Geographic Conditions, pp.36-51.

McMaster, History of the People of the United States, Vol. I, pp. 1-102.

Eggleston, Transit of Civilization, pp. 273-307.

Beer, Commercial Policy of England, pp. 5-158.

Rabbeno, American Commercial Policy, pp. 3-91.

Lord, Industrial Experiments in the British Colonies of North America, pp. 56-86; 124-139.

1776-1860.
2. COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, AND TARIFF.

*Taussig, Tariff History of the United States, pp. 68-154

*Hamilton, Report on Manufactures, in Taussig’s State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, pp. 1-79, 103-107, (79-103).

Bolles, Industrial History of the United States, Book II, pp. 403-426.

Bishop, History of American Manufactures, Vol. II, pp. 256-505.

Pitkin, Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States (ed. 1835), pp. 368-412.

Gallatin, Free Trade Memorial, in Taussig’s State Papers, pp. 108-213.

Rabbeno, American Commercial Policy, pp. 146-183.

Hill, First Stages of the Tariff Policy of the United States, Amer. Econ. Assoc. Pub., Vol. VIII, pp. 107-132.

3. AGRICULTURE AND LAND POLICY. — WESTWARD MOVEMENT.

*Hart, Practical Essays on American Government, pp. 233-257; printed also in Q.J.E., Vol. I, pp. 169-183, 251-254.

*Hammond, Cotton Industry, pp. 67-119.

*Semple, American History and its Geographic Conditions, pp. 52-74.

Turner, Significance of the Frontier in American History, in Report of Amer. Hist. Assoc., 1893, pp. 199-227.

Donaldson, Public Domain, pp. 1-29, 196-239, 332-356.

Sato, History of the Land Question in the United States, Johns Hopkins University Studies, IV. Nos. 7-9, pp. 127-181.

Sanborn, Congressional Grants of Land in Aid of Railways, Bulletin of Univ. of Wisconsin Econ., Pol. Sci, and Hist. Series, Vol. II, No. 3, pp. 269-354.

Hart, History as Told by Contemporaries, Vol. III, pp. 459-478.

4. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

*Callender, Early Transportation and Banking Enterprises, Q.J.E., Vol. XVII, pp. 111-162; printed also separately, pp. 3-54.

Tenth United States Census (1880), Vol. IV, Thos. C. Purdy’s Reports on History of Steam Navigation in the United States, pp. 1-62, and History of Operating Canals in the United States, pp. 1-32.

Chevalier, Society, Manners and Politics in the United States, pp. 80-87, 209-276.

Ringwalt, Development of Transportation Systems in the United States, pp. 41-54, 64-166.

Gallatin, Plan of Internal Improvements, Amer. State Papers, Misc., Vol. I, pp. 724-921 (see especially maps, pp. 744, 762, 764, 820, 830).

Pitkin, Statistical View (1835), pp. 531-581.

Chittenden, Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River, Vol. II, pp. 417-424.

5. FINANCE, BANKING AND CURRENCY.

*Dewey, Financial History of the United States, pp. 75-117, 223-237, 252-262.

*Catterall, The Second Bank of the United States, pp. 1-24, 68-119, 376 map, 402-403, 464-477.

*Bullock, Essays on the Monetary History of the United States, pp. 60-93.

Hamilton, Reports on Public Credit, Amer. State Papers, Finance, Vol. I, pp. 15-37. 64-76.

Kinley. History of the Independent Treasury, pp. 16-39.

Sumner, Andrew Jackson (ed. 1886), pp. 224-249, 257-276, 291-342.

Ross, Sinking Funds, pp. 21-85.

Scott, Repudiation of State Debts, pp. 33-196.

Bourne, History of the Surplus Revenue of 1837, pp. 1-43, 125-135.

Conant, History of Modern Banks of Issue, pp. 310-347.

6. POPULATION AND SLAVERY.

*Cairnes, The Slave Power (2d ed.), pp. 32-103, 140-178.

Hammond, Cotton Industry, pp. 34-66.

Russell, North America, its Agriculture and Climate, pp. 133-167.

De Tocqueville, Democracy in America (ed. 1838), pp. 336-361, or eds. 1841 and 1848, Vol. I, pp. 386-412.

Helper, Compendium of the Impending Crisis of the South, pp. 7-61.

1860-1900.
7. FINANCE, BANKING AND CURRENCY.

*Mitchell, History of the Greenbacks, pp. 3-43, 403-420.

*Noyes, Thirty Years of American Finance, pp. 1-72, 234-254 (73-233).

Taussig, Silver Situation in the United States, pp. 1-157.

Dunbar, National Banking System, Q.J.E., Vol. XII, pp. 1-26; printed also in Dunbar’s Economic Essays, pp. 227-247.

Howe, Taxation and Taxes in the United States under the Internal Revenue System, pp. 136-262.

Tenth United States Census (1880), Vol. VII; Bayley, History of the National Loans, pp. 369-392, 444-486.

8. TRANSPORTATION.

*Hadley, Railroad Transportation, pp. 1-23, 125-145.

*Johnson, American Railway Transportation, pp. 24-68, 307-321, 367-385.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 466-481.

Adams, Chapters of Erie, pp. 1-99, 333-429.

Davis, The Union Pacific Railway, Annals of the Amer. Acad., Vol. VIII, pp. 259-303.

Villard, Memoirs, Vol. II, pp. 284-312.

Dixon, Interstate Commerce Act as Amended, Q.J.E., Vol. XXI, pp. 22-51.

9. AGRICULTURE AND OPENING OF THE WEST.

*Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 43-123, 134-167.

*Noyes, Recent Economic History of the United States, Q.J.E., Vol. XIX, pp. 167-187.

Twelfth United States Census (1900), Vol. V, pp. xvi-xlii.

Hammond, Cotton Industry, pp. 120-226.

Adams, The Granger Movement, North American Review, Vol. CXX, pp. 394-424.

Bemis, Discontent of the Farmer, J. Pol. Ec., Vol. I, 193-213.

10. THE TARIFF.

*Taussig, Tariff History, pp. 156-229.

Stanwood, American Tariff Controversies, Vol. II, pp. 243-394.

Taussig, Iron Industry, Q.J.E., Vol. XIV, pp. 143-170, 475-508.

Taussig, Wool and Woolens, Q.J.E., Vol. VIII, pp. 1-39.

Wright, Wool-growing and the Tariff since 1890, Q.J.E., Vol. XIX, pp. 610-647.

Robinson, History of Two Reciprocity Treaties, pp. 9-17, 40-77, 141-156.

Laughlin and Willis, Reciprocity, pp. 311-437.

11. INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION.

*Twelfth United States Census (1900), Vol. VII, pp. clxx-cxc (note especially the maps and comments on pp. clxx-clxxviii).

*Noyes, Thirty Years of American Finance, pp. 113-126.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 485-519, 544-569.

Twelfth Census, Vol. IX, pp. 1-16; Vol. X, pp. 725-748.

Wells, Recent Economic Changes, pp. 70-113.

12. COMMERCE AND SHIPPING.

*Meeker, Shipping Subsidies, Pol. Sci. Quart., Vol. XX, pp. 594-611.

Soley, Maritime Industries of the United States, in Shaler’s United States, Vol. I, pp. 518-618.

Meeker, History of Shipping Subsidies, pp. 150-171.

McVey, Shipping Subsidies, J. Pol. Ec., Vol. IX, pp. 24-46.

Wells, Our Merchant Marine, pp. 1-94.

13. INDUSTRIAL CONCENTRATION.

*Willoughby, Integration of Industry in the United States, Q.J.E., Vol. XVI, pp. 94-107.

*Noyes, Recent Economic History of the United States, Q.J.E., Vol. XIX, pp. 188-209.

Twelfth Census, Vol. VII, pp. cxc-ccxiv.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, pp. v-xviii.

Bullock, Trust Literature, Q.J.E., Vol. XV, pp. 167-217.

14. THE LABOR PROBLEM.

*United States Bureau of Labor Bulletins, No. 18 (Sept. 1898), pp. 665-670; No. 30 (Sept. 1900), pp. 913-915; No. 53 (July, 1904), pp. 703-728.

Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems, pp. 3-16, 502-547.

Levasseur. American Workman, pp. 436-509.

Mitchell, Organized Labor, pp. 391-411.

Twelfth Census, Special Report on Employees and Wages, p. xcix.

National Civic Federation, Industrial Conciliation, pp. 40-48, 141-154, 238-243, 254-266.

15. POPULATION, IMMIGRATION
AND THE RACE QUESTION.

*United States Census Bulletin, No. 4 (1903), pp. 5-38.

*Industrial Commission, Vol. XV, pp. xix-Ivii.

Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems, pp. 68-112.

Mayo-Smith, Emigration and Immigration, pp. 38-78.

Walker, Discussions in Economics and Statistics, Vol. II, pp. 417-451.

Hoffmann, Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro, pp. 250-309.

Tillinghast, The Negro in Africa and America, pp. 102-228.

Twelfth Census Bulletin, No. 8.

United States Bureau of Labor Bulletins, Nos. 14, 22, 32, 35, 37, 38, 48.

Washington, Future of the American Negro, pp. 3-244.

Stone, A Plantation Experiment, Q.J.E., Vol. XIX, pp. 270-287.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder: “Economics 1906-07”.

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ECONOMICS 6b
Year-end Examination, 1906-07

  1. Describe briefly (not more than five minutes each) :—
    1. Independent Treasury.
    2. Greenbacks
    3. Mills Bill.
    4. Minimum system.
    5. Homestead system.
    6. Chief Canal systems.
  2. Outline succinctly :—
    1. The history and results of the tariff on wool and woolens.
    2. The experience of the United States with reciprocity.
  3. Comment on the following (from Grant’s message of 1870):
    “Building ships and navigating them utilizes vast capital at home; it creates a home market for the farm and the shop; it diminishes the balance of trade against us precisely to the extent of freights and passage money paid to American vessels, and gives us a supremacy of the seas of inestimable value in case of foreign war.”
  4. Compare in its more important features the economic history of the decade 1870-80 with that of the decade 1890-1900.
  5. [International labor migration]
    1. Describe the administration of the alien contract labor law.
    2. What are the present tendencies in the distribution of immigrants?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 29-30.

Image Source: Edwin F. Gay, seated in office, 1908. From Wikipedia. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Problem Sets Transportation

Harvard. Report assignment and final exam for transportation economics. Ripley, Daggett and McLaren, 1906-1907

With the railroad industry posing so many interesting questions in the organization and regulation of industry, corporate finance, and economic geography it comes as no wonder that William Zebina Ripley taught one of the more popular advanced courses offered by the Harvard economics department early in the 20th century.

Worth noting is that the instructions for course reports transcribed below was only very slightly changed from an earlier version (1903-04).

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Earlier exams etc. for Economics 5

1900-01 (Hugo Richard Meyer alone)
1901-02 (Ripley with Hugo Richard Meyer)
1903-04 (Ripley alone)
1904-05 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1905-06 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 5 1hf. Professor [William Zebina] Ripley, assisted by Mr. [Stuart] Daggett and Mr. W. W. [Walter Wallace] McLaren. — Economics of Transportation.

Total 205: 7 Graduates, 59 Seniors, 100 Juniors, 31 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 5
ASSIGNMENT OF REPORTS

⇒ Exact references by title, volume, and page must be given in footnotes for all facts cited. This condition is absolutely imperative. Failure to comply with it will vitiate the entire report.

GROUP A

            Students will report upon the organization and present condition of one railway company in the United States. This will be indicated by a number, placed against each student’s name on the enrolment slip, which number refers to the railroad similarly numbered on this sheet. See Directions on last page.

            The information to be procured is as follows, and should be numbered in correspondence with this list. Note all changes during the year; and compare the results with those for the railway group in which the company lies, as given in U. S. Statistics of Railways. (1) Miles of line. (2) Passengers transported. (3) Tons of freight carried: gross and per mile of line. (4) Tons carried one mile, with revenue per ton mile. (5) Revenue per train mile. (6) Average train load and changes therein. (7) Classification of freight and changes therein. (8) Gross earnings from operation. (9) Operating expenses: gross and per mile of line. (10) Net income from operation. (11) Stock and bonds. (12) Stock and bonds per mile of line. (13) Dividends paid. (14) Surplus. (15) Present prices and movements of prices of the various securities listed.

            With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

GROUP B

            Students will compare the volume of business (1) in gross and (2) by ton and (3) passenger mileage; and the (4) gross income, (5) operating expenses. (6) net income per mile of line, and (7) market prices of securities; for two different railways. These are indicated by numbers posted against the student’s name on the enrolment slip. The aim should be not only to discover differences, but, as far as possible, to explain them. Mere description of conditions is not desired; actual comparison is demanded. The use of parallel columns is suggested. See Directions on last page

            With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

GROUP C

            Students will compare the volume of business (1) in gross and (2) by ton and (3) passenger miles; together with the (4) gross income, (5) operating expenses, (6) net income per mile of line, and (7) prices of securities; for a given railway through a series of years, since 1890, if possible. Note carefully, however, all changes or additions to the line from year to year. The railway assigned is indicated by a number placed against the student’s name on the printed class lists. The analysis of annual reports in financial journals must be carefully followed year by year. Results may be plotted on cross section paper where possible. See Directions on last page.

            With this data as a basis prepare as full a general description of the property as possible.

⇒The letters preceding the assignment number against the student’s name refer to the group in which the report is to be made. Thus, for example: “26 A” on the enrolment slip indicates that the student is to report upon the New York Central R.R.; “16 & 37 B,” that a comparison of the Erie and the Wabash Railroads is expected, etc.

RAILWAY COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES
  1. Atchison, Topeka, and Sante Fé.
  2. Baltimore and Ohio.
  3. Canada Southern.
  4. Central of New Jersey.
  5. Chesapeake and Ohio.
  6. Chicago and Alton.
  7. Chicago Great Western.
  8. Chicago, Indiana, and Louisville.
  9. Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul.
  10. Chicago and Northwestern.
  11. Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific.
  12. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago, and St. Louis. (Big Four.)
  13. Delaware and Hudson.
  14. Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western.
  15. Denver and Rio Grande.
  16. Erie.
  17. Great Northern.
  18. Hocking Valley.
  19. Illinois Central.
  20. Iowa Central.
  21. Lake Erie and Western.
  22. Louisville and Nashville.
  23. Mexican Central.
  24. Missouri, Kansas, and Texas.
  25. Missouri Pacific.
  26. New York Central.
  27. New York, Ontario, and Western.
  28. Norfolk and Western.
  29. Pennsylvania.
  30. Philadelphia and Reading.
  31. St. Louis and San Francisco.
  32. St. Louis Southwestern.
  33. Southern Pacific.
  34. Southern Railway.
  35. Texas and Pacific.
  36. Union Pacific.
  37. Wabash.
  38. Wheeling and Lake Erie.
  39. Wisconsin Central.
  40. Ann Arbor.
  41. Atlantic Coast Line.
  42. Boston and Maine.
  43. Boston and Albany. (See New York Central.)
  44. Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh.
  45. Central Vermont.
  46. Central Railroad of New Jersey.
  47. Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton.
  48. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha. (See Chicago and Northwestern.)
  49. Chicago and Eastern Illinois.
  50. Pittsburgh, Evansville, and Terre Haute.
  51. Lehigh Valley.
  52. Long Island.
  53. New York, New Haven, and Hartford.
  54. New York, Chicago, and St. Louis.
  55. Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. (See New York Central.)
  56. Maine Central.
  57. Pittsburgh, Bessemer, and Lake Erie.
  58. Western Maryland.
  59. Rio Grande Western.
  60. St. Paul and Duluth.
  61. Northern Pacific. (See Northern Securities Co.)
  62. Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and Northern.
  63. St. Joseph and Grand Island.
  64. Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Memphis.
  65. International and Great Northern.
  66. Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis.
  67. Mobile and Ohio.
  68. Yazoo and Mississippi Valley. (See Illinois Central.)
  69. Plant System.
  70. Georgia Railroad and Banking Company.
  71. Central of Georgia.
  72. Pere Marquette.
  73. Columbus, Sandusky, and Hocking.
  74. Cleveland, Lorain, and Wheeling.
  75. Mexican Central.
  76. Grand Trunk.
  77. Canadian Pacific.
  78. Chicago, Burlington, and Quiney. (See Northern Securities Co.)
  79. Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Gulf.
  80. Rutland.
  81. Seaboard Air Line.
  82. Northern Securities Co.
  83. The Rock Island Co.
DIRECTIONS

First — Read over the latest annual reports of the company. These are usually republished in Bradstreets; the N.Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle [Gore Hall]; or the N. Y. Journal of Commerce and Wall Street Journal. [Daily files of last two in 24 University Hall.] Statistical abstracts of these are also in Poor’s Manual of Railroads; the Investors’ Supplement, N. Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle; or bankers’ Handbooks, Manuals of Statistics, etc.

Second. — Before compiling any returns for ton or passenger mileage, revenue per train mile, etc., read carefully T. L. Greene, Corporation Finance, pp. 79-130 [better buy it, for use in Economics 9b]; Ripley, Transportation (in Vol. XIX, U. S. Industrial Commission Report, 1900), pp. 274-280 and 293-95; [James Shirley] Eaton, Railway Operations, pp. 190-201; or Woodlock, Anatomy of a Railroad Report, pp. 101-111. (Copies in Harvard Hall.)

Third. — Work back carefully through the file of the Investors’ Supplement, N. Y. Commercial and Financial Chronicle. These Supplements, prior to 1902, are bound in with the regular issues of the Chronicle, one number in each volume. Since 1901 they are separately bound for each year. The Investors’ Supplement will be recognized by its gray paper cover, and must be carefully distinguished from the other supplements of the Chronicle. Market prices of securities are given in a distinct Bank and Quotation Supplement, also bound up with the Chronicle. Having found the company in the Investors’ Supplement, follow up all references to articles in the Commercial and Financial Chronicle as given by volume and page. Also use the general index of the latter, separately, for each year since the company was organized.

The files of Bradstreets should also be used, noting carefully that the index in each volume is in three separate divisions, “Editorials” being the most important. The course of prices is summarized at the end of each year in January Bradstreets, and also in the Reports of the U.S. Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII.

The files of Poor’s Manual, the Railway Age, the Railway World, the Wall Street Journal, and other technical papers may of course also be consulted.

Fourth. — Analyze carefully by means of its indexes the returns in the official Statistics of Railways in the United States, published by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Note the statistical division into groups shown on the map at the head of each volume. Note also that for each railway lying in two or more groups, a Summary for the road as a whole is given as a Supplement to each table.

The Annual Statistical Abstract of the United States contains convenient general tables for certain purposes.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder: “Economics 1906-07”.

ECONOMICS 5
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

  1. State and explain three leading reasons for the issue of preferred stock by a railroad.
  2. What peculiarities of the anthracite coal industry have led to overproduction and irregularity of prices, in absence of monopolistic agreements?
  3. The following statistics are drawn from the 1906 reports of two leading railroads. Complete the tables approximately, and state the main conclusions deducible from the statement of facts :—
Road A. Road B
Mileage operated 2062. 4423.
Tons rev. freight 20,259,000 25,641,000
Passenger mileage 1,255,625,000 511,391,000
Ton mileage 1,888,605,000 6,230,593,000
Average haul one ton (miles) 93 243
Loaded car mileage, one direction 86,381,000 353,282,000
Loaded car mileage, other direction 59,362,000
Average tons freight per train 236 410
Gross revenue from freight $27,247,000 $34,637,000
Freight train mileage 7,778,000 17,209,000
Earnings from operation $52,984,000 $51,636,000
Operating expenses $35,222,000 $34,302,000
Freight traffic density (compute it.) (compute it.)
Revenue per ton mile (compute it.) (compute it.)
Freight earnings per train mile (compute it.) (compute it.)
Operating ratio (compute it.) (compute it.)
  1. What is the method of valuation of franchises in Wisconsin? Criticise it.
  2. What, in your judgment, are the three most important provisions of the Hepburn Act of 1906?
  3. What is the Doctrine of Judicial Review? Criticise it.
  4. Is railroad rate regulation in England more or less strict than in the United States? Describe the situation as regards the rate. making power.
  5. What are the various economic considerations involved in the making of a freight classification? Illustrate by taking a few typical commodities.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 28-29.

Image Source: American Railroad Scene: Lightning Express Trains Leaving the Junction. Currier & Ives (1874). Published in: Viewpoints; a selection from the pictorial collections of the Library of Congress …. Washington : Library of Congress …, 1975, no. 39.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Sociology

Harvard. Enrollment and exam questions for principles of sociology. J.A. Field, 1906-1907

 

Thomas Nixon Carver was on a European sabbatical with his wife and three children during the academic year 1906-07 so substitutes were needed to cover his courses on sociology, agriculture and income distribution. The graduate student James A. Field took over the principles of sociology course in Carver’s absence.

Note: Materials from some courses have already been transcribed and posted. Whenever that is the case, I’ll just add a link to the relevant post. Falling between Economics 1 and Economics 3 was Frank W. Taussig’s course, Economics 2 (“Principles of Economics–Second Course”). It was the “advanced” economic theory course in the curriculum.

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Previous Posts about James A. Field

Chicago. Decennial Harvard Class Report of associate professor of political economy James A. Field, ABD, 1913.

Harvard. Economics Graduate School Records of James Alfred Field, ABD. 1903-1911.

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 3. Mr. J.A. Field. — Principles of Sociology. Theories of Social Progress.

Total 44: 4 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 11 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 70.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

I.

  1. [Elective reading(s)]
    1. Name the author and the title of the book which you chose for elective reading (or of each of the books, if your reading involved more than one).
    2. Indicate and briefly describe that which seems to you the central thought or the most interesting thought in the book (or in each of the books) thus read.
    3. Criticise the book (or one of the books) with regard to both merits and defects, giving special attention to the part you have described in your answer to question (b) above.

II
Omit one question of this group.

  1. What do you consider to be the true conception of social progress?
    To what extent does social progress in this sense promote the welfare of individuals?
  2. What is an acquired character?
    Assuming that acquired characters are not inherited, in what ways is that fact advantageous for society?
    Does this assumed non-inheritance of acquired characters become more advantageous or less advantageous as civilization advances?
  3. Describe the three stages traced by Comte in the progress of human society.
    Is Comte’s scheme in harmony with Kidd’s belief regarding the conditions of progress?
  4. What is meant by social heredity?
    Show the relation between social heredity and the theories of Baldwin, Fiske, and Tarde which have been considered in this course.

III
Omit one question of this group.

  1. What is Buckle’s conclusion as to the relative importance or moral and the intellectual factors of progress, and on what reasons is his conclusion based?
    Do you accept his conclusion and his reasoning as correct?
  2. How may self-interest act as a socializing influence?
  3. In what sense can a social mind be said to exist?
    How is it related to the individual minds of the members of society?
  4. What is religion, according to Kidd?
    How much has it in common with “the struggle for the life others”? How much has it in common with Idealization?
    Would Kidd agree that the function of all religions is to reconcile us to the inevitable?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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ECONOMICS 3

Year-end Examination, 1906-07

[Omit one question.]

  1. Briefly explain:
    1. Exogamy.
    2. Anthropomorphism.
    3. Refraction of Imitation.
    4. Vicarious Leisure.
    5. General Social Sanction.
  2. What are the functions which are organized in the institution of the family?
    Describe the Religious-Proprietary Family.
  3. Criticise Spencer’s antithesis of the militant and industrial types of society and compare it with Robinson’s theory of the relation between war and economics.
  4. What is the Standard of Living?
    For what reasons, and under what conditions, is a high standard of living desirable?
  5. Compare economic competition with the biological struggle for existence.
  6. What are the relations of cause and effect which connect competition, specialization and capitalism?
  7. Explain and criticise Veblen’s theory of the Instinct of Workmanship.
  8. Discuss the relation of women to the competitive process, to conservatism and reform, to religion and to the institution of the leisure class.
    How do you explain the psychic differences between men and women which this discussion suggests? To what extent do you regard these differences as merely the result of social conventions?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 27-28.

Image Source: Original black-and-white image from the Special Diplomatic Passport Application by James Alfred Field (January 1918). Cropped and colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. (Note: left third of the image is slightly distorted because of a transparent plastic strip used to hold pages in the imaging process)

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Principles

Harvard. Enrollments, staffing, exams for principles of economics. Taussig, Bullock, Andrew. 1906-1907

It is now time to begin posting transcriptions of course material for the Harvard academic year 1906-07. Sometimes, even for the curator of Economics in the Rear-view Mirror, this becomes a tedious task. Still, the opportunity to assemble a long time series of economics exams into searchable text for one of the leading economics departments has the virtue of being steady work. 

In the beginning… there is the undergraduate principles of economics course and that is the subject of this post. Subsequent posts more or less follow the course numbering used at the time by Harvard.

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Taussig explains the course structure

In a letter Aug 8, 1906 to E.R.A. Seligman at Columbia describing how Economics 1 was taught we learn that Frank Taussig gave the first semester lectures and his younger colleagues, Charles J. Bullock and A. Piatt Andrew split the second semester’s lectures between themselves. The textbooks used in the course were “Mill, Walker, and Seager.” Taussig also gave himself credit for introducing the course structure of having a common set of lectures and small-section work for discussion and exercises.

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 1. Professor [Frank William] Taussig and Asst. Professors [Charles Jesse] Bullock and [Abram Piatt] Andrew, assisted by Messrs [Selden Osgood] Martin, [Frank Richardson] Mason, G. R. [George Randall] Lewis, [Charles Phillips] Huse, and [Arthur Norman] Holcombe. — Principles of Economics.

Total 392: 1 Graduate, 15 Seniors, 43 Juniors, 252 Sophomores, 50 Freshmen, 31 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 70.

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ECONOMICS 1
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

  1. Explain briefly what is meant by, — free goods; public goods; utility; marginal utility; productive labor.
  2. Explain the relation between, — the rate of interest; the selling price of land; the capitalization of monopolies; vested rights.
  3. What is meant by urban site rent? Does such rent differ from the rent of agricultural land? If so, in what essentials? If not, why not?
  4. Are business profits a return different in kind from wages, according to Mill? Seager? the instructor in the course?
  5. Is a high birth-rate to be regarded with anxiety? a low birth-rate? a high death-rate? a low death-rate? State (in round numbers per 1000 of population) what you would regard as high and low rates.
  6. Would you expect the price of a commodity to fall if its cost of production were lowered? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not?
    Would you expect the cost of producing a commodity to be lowered if its price fell? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not?
  7. Wherein had immigration into the United States during the decade just passed differed from immigration in earlier times; and what effect has recent immigration had (a) on the general rate of wages, (b) on wages in particular occupations?
  8. Explain the connection between, — collective bargaining; the closed shop; the open union.
  9. Suppose socialism, in the form proposed by Fourier, were adopted: how would wages, rent, interest, business profits, be affected? What if socialism, as outlined by modern writers, were adopted?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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ECONOMICS 1
Year-end Examination, 1905-06

I.
Answer three questions.

  1. Does the value of a commodity depend on its utility? Does the price of a commodity depend on its value?
  2. Explain briefly what is meant by (a) the sweating system, (b) producers’ coöperation, (c) collective bargaining.
  3. Suppose a great increase in the supply of (a) gold, (b) silver, (c) wheat: would the values of these three articles be affected in the same way and in the same degree?
  4. What is the nature of the income received by (a) an owner of lodging house who lets rooms to students; (b) an owner of shares a “trust”; (c) an author receiving royalty on a copy-righted book; (d) a mine owner receiving a royalty (so much per ton) on minerals extracted from his mine.

II.
Answer three questions.

  1. Describe the various forms of credit which serve as means of exchange. Does their existence afford any disproof of the “quantity theory”? Explain why or why not.
  2. If there were no legal restrictions, would anything tend to prevent an over-expansion (a) of deposits, (b) of notes?
    If the present legal restrictions on note issue were abolished, what substitutes would you suggest?
  3. The imports of the United States from Brazil permanently exceed our exports to that country. What movements of specie between these countries are involved? The total exports of merchandise from the United States permanently exceed its imports. What movements of specie to or from this country are involved?
  4. Given mint par with England 4.86 2/3, France 5.18, Germany 0.952. What conditions with regard to American trade are indicated by the following quotations of exchange in New York, 4.84, 5.20, 0.945? How ought these rates to stand if the American dollar were to fall to half its present gold value?

III.
Answer three questions.

  1. According: to the principles laid down by Adam Smith and Mill, what changes should be made in the system of taxation employed by our national government?
  2. Compare the history of the income tax in the United States with the history of the tax in two European countries.
  3. What are the principal arguments for and against the proposal to levy progressive income taxes in order to prevent “undue” concentration of wealth? What are the arguments for and against using progressive inheritance taxes for the same purpose?
  4. Should a national debt be extinguished? Should municipal debts be extinguished? (In each case state fully the reasons for your answer.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1907), pp. 24-25.

Image Source: Frank W. Taussig in the Harvard Class Album, 1906. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.