Wassily Leontief | |
---|---|
Born |
Wassily Wassilyevich Leontief August 5, 1906 Munich, German Empire |
Died | February 5, 1999 New York City,United States |
(aged 93)
Citizenship | Russian Empire, Soviet Union, United States |
Alma mater |
Frederick William University, (PhD) University of Leningrad, (MA) |
Known for | Input-output analysis |
Awards | Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1973) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Economics |
Institutions |
University of Kiel New York University Harvard University |
Doctoral advisor |
Ladislaus Bortkiewicz Werner Sombart |
Doctoral students |
Paul Samuelson Thomas Schelling Robert Solow Kenneth E. Iverson Vernon L. Smith Richard E. Quandt Hyman Minsky Khodadad Farmanfarmaian Dale W. Jorgenson Michael C. Lovell Karen R. Polenske |
Influences | Léon Walras |
Influenced | George B. Dantzig |
Wassily Wassilyevich Leontief (Russian: Василий Васильевич Леонтьев; August 5, 1905 – February 5, 1999), was a Russian-American economist known for his research on input-output analysis and how changes in one economic sector may affect other sectors. Leontief won the Nobel Committee's Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1973, and four of his doctoral students have also been awarded the prize (Paul Samuelson 1970, Robert Solow 1987, Vernon L. Smith 2002, Thomas Schelling 2005).
Wassily Leontief was born on August 5, 1905, in Munich, Germany, the son of Wassily W. Leontief (professor of Economics) and Zlata (German spelling Slata; later Evgenia) Leontief (née Becker). W. Leontief, Sr., belonged to a family of old-believer merchants living in St. Petersburg since 1741. Genya Becker belonged to a wealthy Jewish family from Odessa. At 15 in 1921, Wassily, Jr., entered University of Leningrad in present-day St. Petersburg. He earned his Learned Economist degree (equivalent to Master of Arts) in 1924 at the age of 19.
Leontief sided with campaigners for academic autonomy, freedom of speech and in support of Pitirim Sorokin. As a consequence, he was detained several times by the Cheka. In 1925, he was allowed to leave the USSR, mostly because the Cheka believed that he was mortally ill with a sarcoma, a diagnosis that later proved false. He continued his studies at the Frederick William University and, in 1928 earned a Ph.D. degree in economics under the direction of Werner Sombart, writing his dissertation on The Economy as Circular Flow (original German title: Die Wirtschaft als Kreislauf).