Wassily Leontief (August 5th 1905 - February 5th 1999) American economist , of Russian origin and prize winner of the “Nobel Prize” of economy in 1973. Its name is associated with the analysis input-output.

Biography

Born with Munich, in Germany, Leontief obtains its control at the university of Leningrad in 1924, at the 19 years age. After being stopped several times for its opposition to the Communism, it is authorized to leave the country. It continues its studies with the Université Humboldt of Berlin and obtains its doctorate in 1928 there.

It leaves to the the United States in 1931, works initially for the National Office off Economic Research, then joined the Université Harvard in 1932. The same year, he marries the poetess Estelle Marks. In 1946, he becomes full professor of economy. In 1948, it founds the Harvard Economic Research Project and is the director until 1973. As from 1949, it uses the first computers available to Harvard to model off the abundant data by the Bureau Labor Statistics, by dividing the US economy into 500 sectors, each sector being represented by a linear equation. In 1973, it receives the “Nobel Prize” of economy for its work on the Analyze input-output. It joined the New York University in 1975, founds and directs the Center for Economic Analysis . He dies in New York, on February 5th, 1999, 93 years old.

Input-output table

Leontief is the author of work on the interindustrial analysis, of which it will prepare tables of input-output trade (TEI) or input-output tables (YOUR).

Paradox of Leontief

The theorem of Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) establishes that each country exports well the S which intensively use the abundant Factor of production in the country.

By using input-output tables, Leontief shows that the the United States export well S less intensive in Capital than are to it their Importation S. This result seems to refute the theorem HOS which predicts that the Pays developed S will export goods with strong capital intensive contents and will import goods with strong contents in factor work. This result is known under the name of paradox of Leontieff which amply will be discussed and disputed by the specialists in the international business. Criticisms related to three points:

• the subjacent assumption is same a Fonction of production between the countries, which is probably not the case.
• the introduction of a third Factor of production, the Natural resources, can change the results.
• the separation of work in qualified work and work not qualified is the method most frequently adopted to solve the paradox: the the United States import goods with strong contents in work not qualified, and export goods with strong contents in qualified work.

Selective bibliography

• Quantitative Input and Output Relations in the Economic System off the United States , Review off Economics and Statistics, 1936, vol. 18, p. 105 to 125

• The Structure off the American Economy , 1941, 1919-1929, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Near; transl. of the increased version of 1951 (1958), the structure of the US economy: 1919-1939, Paris, Gélin
• Domestic Production and Foreign Trade: The American Capital Position Re-examined , 1953, Proceedings off the American Philosophy, vol. 97, p. 332 to 349; transl. (1972), in Lassudrie-Duchêne (under dir it. of), international Exchange and growth, Paris, Economica