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Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought

The Leontief Prize, in memory of Wassily Leontief, is designed to recognize outstanding contributions to economic theory that address contemporary realities and support just and sustainable societies.

2008 Leontief Prize to be awarded to
Robert Wade and José Antonio Ocampo

Fall event on "New Visions for Trade and Development"
Read the announcement here

 

2007 Leontief Prize: “Climate Change, Economic Development, and Global Equity" awarded to Stephen DeCanio and Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Dr. Neva Goodwin, Dr. Stephen DeCanio, Provost Jamshed Bharucha, Dr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, and Dr. William Moomaw. Photo by Joshua Berkowitz.

GDAE presented the 2007 Leontief Prize to Dr. Stephen DeCanio, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Dr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram (known as Jomo K.S.), Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development in the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), on October 17, 2007 at Tufts Medford Campus. The award ceremony featured lectures by Dr. DeCanio and Dr. Sundaram on the topic of "Climate Change, Economic Development, and Global Equity." GDAE Co-Director Dr. Neva Goodwin presented this year's awards to the two leading economists, noting that this year's prize is “very timely, following the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” to which GDAE’s Bill Moomaw and Frank Ackerman are contributors [see full text of Neva Goodwin's remarks].

Prof. DeCanio receiving his award from Dr. Goodwin.
Photo by Joshua Berkowitz.

Professor Stephen DeCanio was honored for his path-breaking work on climate change analysis and policy. Dr. DeCanio enhances the traditional economic understandings of efficiency and motivation with a sense of social purpose.  He has written extensively on corporate organization and behavior as it pertains to the use of energy-efficient technologies, and has also criticized some standard approaches to the economics of climate change, such as the misuse of general equilibrium and cost-benefit analyses.  This may be seen in his latest book, Economic Models of Climate Change: A Critique. From 1986 to '87 DeCanio was the Senior Staff Economist at the President's Council of Economic Advisers.  He was one of the founders of the Computational Laboratories Group at UC Santa Barbara, and from 2001 to 2004 was a member of the board of directors of the organization, Redefining Progress.  He was a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Economic Options Panel, which reviewed the economic aspects of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and served as Co-Chair of the Montreal Protocol's Agricultural Economics Task Force of the Technical and Economics Assessment Panel. More on Dr. DeCanio's work can be read at: http://www.econ.ucsb.edu/~decanio/

Read the paper Dr. DeCanio's remarks were based on:
"Reflections on Climate Change, Economic Development, and Global Equity"

 

Jomo K.S. giving his remarks.
Photo by Joshua Berkowitz.

Dr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram (Jomo K.S) was honored for his pioneering work on development and inequality.  Jomo K.S. has been Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development in the United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) since January 2005. He was visiting senior research fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, founding chair of International Development Economics Associates, and professor in the applied economics department, University of Malaya, until 2004. He has taught at Science University of Malaysia, Harvard University, Yale University, National University of Malaysia, University of Malaya, and Cornell University. He has authored more than 35 monographs, edited more than 50 books, and translated 11 volumes, in addition to writing many academic papers and articles for the media. His most recent book, The New Development Economics: After the Washington Consensus, is available through Zed Books (2006). More on Jomo K.S.’s work can be read at: http://www.jomo.ws/

See Jomo K.S.'s PowerPoint presentation: "Economic Development, Inequality, and Climate Change"

The 2007 Leontief Awards ceremony was featured in the Tufts Daily as well as in Tufts E-News.

Click on the links below to read about previous Leontief Prize award recipients:

2006 Recipients - Juliet Schor and Samuel Bowles
2005 Recipients - Ha-Joon Chang and Richard R. Nelson
2004 Recipients - Robert Frank and Nancy Folbre
2002 Recipients - Alice Amsden and Dani Rodrik
2001 Recipients - Herman E. Daly and Paul P. Streeten
2000 Recipients - Amartya Sen and John Kenneth Galbraith

History of the Leontief Prize


2006 Leontief Prize: “Economics for an Imperfect World:
Building on the Galbraith Legacy" awarded to Juliet Schor and Samuel Bowles

Leontief06
Dr. William Moomaw, Dr. Juliet Schor, President Lawrence Bacow,
Dr. Sam Bowles, and Dr. Neva Goodwin. Photo by Joshua Berkowitz.

GDAE presented the 2006 Leontief Prize to Dr. Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology, Boston College, and Dr. Samuel Bowles, Research Professor and Director of the Behavioral Sciences Program, Santa Fe Institute on October 5, 2006 at Tufts Medford Campus. The award ceremony featured lectures by Dr. Schor and Dr. Bowles on the topic of "Economics for an Imperfect World: Building on the Galbraith Legacy." The award ceremony was followed by a dinner accompanied by remarks from Galbraith's biographer, Richard Parker. In 2000, Galbraith and Amartya Sen were the inaugural recipients of the Leontief Prize. Read more about the Galbraith Leontief Prize ceremony further down on this page.

schor
Prof. Schor giving her remarks.
Photo by Tim Fitzsimons, Tufts Daily.

Professor Juliet Schor was honored for her work on trends in labor and leisure, consumption, the economics of families, and economic justice. Her first well-known book, The Overworked American, described the time pressures, competition, and consumerism of late 20th-century America. This was followed by The Overspent American, and most recently by Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. Her current research interests include the commercialization of childhood, and the environmental sustainability of American lifestyles. Dr. Schor directed the Women Studies Program at Harvard University and taught in the Harvard economics department before becoming a Professor of Sociology at Boston College. Dr. Schor is also a board member and co-founder of the Center for a New American Dream, an organization devoted to transforming North American lifestyles to make them more ecologically and socially sustainable. More on Dr. Schor's work can be read at: http://www2.bc.edu/~schorj/

Read the paper Dr. Schor's remarks were based on:
"In Praise of the Consumer Critic: Economics and The Affluent Society"

 

bowles

Prof. Bowles giving his remarks.
Photo by Joshua Berkowitz.

Professor Samuel Bowles was honored for his groundbreaking work as an innovator in microeconomics over the last 40 years. His work on the structure of labor and capital markets and the organization of work has led to the theory of “contested exchange,” demonstrating how markets naturally create persistent inequalities of wealth and power.  His current research focuses on the evolution of institutions, behavior, and preferences, and on the causes and consequences of inequality.  Dr. Bowles combines empirical and theoretical work in economics and many related disciplines, along with sophisticated mathematical tools, to address questions of broad social and political importance. Now nominally retired from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he divides his time between U-Mass, the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico (where he heads the Behavioral Sciences Program), and the University of Siena in Italy. More information on Dr. Bowles' work can be read at: http://www.santafe.edu/~bowles/

Read articles on the 2006 Leontief Prize ceremony.

 


2005 Leontief Prize,"Rethinking Development in the 21st Century," awarded to Ha-Joon Chang and Richard R. Nelson
From left to right: Dr. Chang, Tufts University
Provost Jamshed Bharucha, and Dr. Nelson.
Photo by Joshua Berkowitz.

GDAE presented the 2005 Leontief Prize to Richard R. Nelson, George Blumenthal Professor at Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs and Ha-Joon Chang, Assistant Director of Development Studies at University of Cambridge Faculty of Economics, on October 27, 2005 on Tufts’ Medford campus. The award ceremony featured lectures by Dr. Nelson and Dr. Chang on the theme, “Rethinking Development in the 21st Century: Globalization, Innovation, and the Role of the State.”

 

Prof. Nelson giving his remarks. Photo by Jeff Chen of Tufts Daily.

Professor Richard Nelson was honored for his pioneering theoretical and empirical work on the processes of long-run economic development with particular emphasis on technological innovation and evolutionary economic change. Dr. Nelson is the author of The Sources of Economic Growth (2000), An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (1985), and the editor of The Limits of Market Organization (2005) as well as many other important works.

Read Dr. Nelson's remarks

Read Neva Goodwin's award presentation to Dr. Nelson

 

Dr. Chang with his family after the award ceremony. Photo by Joshua Berkowitz.

 

Professor Ha-Joon Chang, received the Leontief Prize for his insightful work on the role of the state in fostering development in poorer countries, and on the problematic relationship between economic globalization and development goals. Dr. Chang’s books include Reclaiming Development: An Economic Policy Handbook for Activists and Policymakers (2004) and Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (2002). Dr. Chang is also a contributor to Putting Development First: The Importance of Policy Space in the WTO and IFIs, edited by GDAE Researcher Kevin P. Gallagher, just published in 2005.

Read Dr. Chang's remarks

Read Neva Goodwin's award presentation to Dr. Chang

Watch an interview with Dr. Change about his new book Bad Samaritans, along with GDAE's senior researcher Kevin P. Gallagher


Tufts Institute Awards 2004 Leontief Prize to
Robert Frank and Nancy Folbre

Tufts University’s Global Development And Environment Institute awarded its fourth annual economics prize to Robert Frank, Professor of Economics at Cornell University and Nancy Folbre, Professor of Economics at UMass Amherst for their outstanding contributions to economic theory. The awards were presented at a ceremony at Tufts on Thursday, April 8th, where the recipients answered the questions "Is it inevitable that the rich get richer and the powerful get more powerful in America? Will inequality increase without limit? Can we envision a more just and equitable society, and could there be practical policies to bring it about?"


Professor Robert Frank

Robert Frank, author of Luxury Fever: Money and Happiness in and Era of Excess and The Winner-Take-All Society, explained the forces that drive the economic system toward greater inequality and excessive consumption, while Nancy Folbre, author of The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values and The Ultimate Field Guide to the US Economy, discussed how to promote a more humane and cooperative economic system.

 


Professor Nancy Folbre accepting her award from William Moomaw and Neva Goodwin

Professor Folbre is well known for her work exploring the interrelations of feminist theory and political economy [see text of Folbre's remarks]. She has investigated the economics of gender and families, and the importance of non-market production in economic and social development. Her recent work explores the reasons why the work of parents, nurses, teacher others who provide “caring labor” is undervalued and underpaid, and how the situation could be remedied. She has also been a leader in promoting popular economic literacy.


Professor Frank has brought public attention to the social and economic impacts of competition – in particular, "positional" competition in which each person strives to improve his or her position in society relative to everyone else. The majority of those who play this game will inevitably feel like losers. Frank has also pointed to the wastage in a “star” or “winner-take-all” system, in which huge rewards motivate many to compete for a few top positions, again creating a large number of losers. Policies to limit these kinds of competition would have the rare combination of increasing both economic efficiency and equality, while reducing human discontent.


Professor Robert Frank accepting his award from William Moomaw and Neva Goodwin.

From left to right: Robert Frank, Nancy Folbre, William Moomaw, Neva Goodwin, and Fletcher Dean Stephen Bosworth


Tufts Institute Awards 2002 Leontief Prize to
Alice Amsden and Dani Rodrik

Tufts University’s Global Development And Environment Institute awarded its third annual economics prize to Alice Amsden of MIT and Dani Rodrik of Harvard for their path-breaking work on globalization and the role of the state in development. The awards were presented at a ceremony at Tufts on November 21, where the recipients spoke on the topic of “Ruling Out National Development? States, Markets and Globalization.”

The Global Development And Environment Institute (GDAE) inaugurated the award in 2000 in memory of Nobel Prize-winning economist and Institute advisory board member Wassily Leontief, who had passed away the previous year. The Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought is intended to recognize economists whose work, like that of the Institute and Leontief himself, is broadening the field of economics to better comprehend urgent contemporary issues.

From left to right: Neva Goodwin, Dani Rodrik, Alice Amsden, Bill Moomaw

Amsden and Rodrik follow two previous pairs as Leontief Prize winners. The inaugural prizes were awarded to John Kenneth Galbraith and Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen. Last year, GDAE recognized the work of development economist Paul Streeten and Herman Daly, one of the founders of the recent field of ecological economics.


From left to right: Neva Goodwin, Julie Nelson, and Dani Rodrik

“As it becomes clear that the free market is leaving many behind in the current wave of globalization, Alice Amsden and Dani Rodrik are demonstrating why the theories of free trade have not measured up to their promises,” said GDAE co-director Neva Goodwin. “Their rigorous empirical work and profound understanding of economic development is appropriately recognized in an award that bears Leontief's name.” [see text of Goodwin's remarks]

Alice Amsden, the Barton T. Weller Professor of of Political Economy at MIT, is perhaps best known for her recent work on the role of the state in newly industrializing countries. [see text of Amsden's remarks] Her 2001 book, The Rise of “the Rest”: Challenges to the West from Late-Industrializing Economies, highlights the importance of an active state in promoting industrialization, a perspective that challenges many of the tenets of mainstream development institutions.

Dani Rodrik, Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, has written extensively on the globalization process. [see text of Rodrik's remarks] His empirical work on the impacts of tariff reductions and financial liberalization on developing country economies revealed a track record of economic achievement that was much more limited than had previously been acknowledged. His recent books include Making Openness Work: The New Global Economy and the Developing Countries, and Has Globalization Gone Too Far?


From left to right: President Larry Bacow, Alice Amsden, Neva Goodwin, and Dean Stephen Bosworth

The Global Development And Environment Institute was founded in 1993 with the goal of promoting a better understanding of how societies can pursue their economic and community goals in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. The climate of vigorous intellectual inquiry among economists and others on the Tufts campus has supported the Institute in its work of policy-relevant research on globalization and sustainable development, the role of the market in environmental policy, recycling and material use, and climate change. The institute develops textbooks and course materials that incorporate a broad understanding of social and environmental sustainability. Its six-volume series, Frontier Issues in Economic Thought, provides an accessible introduction to over 400 academic articles on themes such as consumerism, human well-being, the environment, and economic inequality.

Click here for a corresponding article (Mentor Nimani, MALD '03, from The Fletcher Ledger) about the 2002 Leontief Prize .

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Tufts Institute Awards 2001 Leontief Prize to
Herman E. Daly & Paul P. Streeten

(Akshay Madhavan, MALD '02, from the Fletcher Ledger - November 19, 2001 issue)

On Tuesday, November 13, Dr. Herman E. Daly and Dr. Paul P. Streeten were awarded The Global Development And Environmental Institute"s (GDAE) Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. The prize is named after the famed economist Wassily Leontief, who sought connections between different disciplines and attempted to transcend a narrow definition of economics. The award seeks to recognize outstanding achievements that "address contemporary realities and support just and sustainable societies." The Leontief Prize was established in 2000, and its first recipients were Dr. Amartya Sen and Dr. John Kenneth Galbraith.

Fletcher Professor Bill Moomaw (co-chair of GDAE) and Tufts President Lawrence Bacow introduced Daly and Streeten with high praise for the recipients" academic and professional achievements. Dr. Neva Goodwin (co-chair of GDAE) [see text of Goodwin's comments] also pointed out that Daly and Streeten have both worked at the World Bank, and have contributed to the attempts of the World Bank to address issues of poverty and sustainability. GDAE's latest publication, "A Survey of Sustainable Development" is dedicated to the recipients of the Leontief Prize.

Dr. Paul Streeten, Professor Emeritus at Boston University, whose biographical highlights are lengthy enough to serve as an independent article, addressed the issues of environmental protection and sustainability. [see text of Streeten's comments] He posited that development and environmental sustainability are in harmony and not in conflict with each other (This presupposes a proper, all-encompassing definition of development). He stated that economic growth (measured as GDP) should not be the end objective of societies, but rather a by-product of thoughtful policy aimed at improving the environment and ameliorating social inequality. He divided all goods and services into "goods", "bads", and "anti-bads" (goods produced to counter bads). He then pointed out that societies have four choices to enhance environmental protection.

Dr. Paul Streeten

1. Produce fewer goods, consequently fewer bads (zero growth)

2. Produce more goods, consequently more bads, and also more anti-bads (the rate of growth then depends on how you count the anti-bads)

3. Produce even more goods and bads (high growth)

4. Produce different kinds of goods, like environmentally friendly cars

Streeten emphasized the need to go beyond the traditional view of the production possibilities frontier. He concluded by distinguishing soft sustainability proponents (those who want to maintain the sustainability of outputs), from hard sustainability proponents (those who want to maintain the sustainability of inputs). He pointed out that Dr. Daly fell into the latter category.


Dr. Herman Daly

Dr. Herman Daly, currently a professor at the University of Maryland, addressed issues of scale economics, environmental sustainability, and social equity. [see text of Daly's comments] He criticized neoclassical economics for emphasizing economic scale, without being concerned with the potential natural and environmental scarcity and degradation. He contended that economics ignores social equity and environmental sustainability, and argued for a more thorough study of the costs and benefits of actions rather than merely the benefits.

Daly pointed out that macroeconomics is part of the ecosystem, not an independent entity itself. Within this ecosystem, he emphasized the need for social equity, claiming that irresponsible economic growth may lead to "illth" and not wealth. He called on wealthier countries to address this problem with several redistribution (transfer from rich to poor) and recomposition (transfer from private goods to public goods) solutions. Daly criticized the IMF, World Bank, and WTO for a one-dimensional view of economic growth, without a consideration for the equity and environmental impacts of such growth.

The most remarkable aspect of both speeches was the speakers" willingness to transcend the shackles of a uni-disciplinary approach. Both Daly and Streeten are trained economists, but did not hesitate to point to weaknesses in their discipline. Their multi-disciplinary approach was a refreshing welcome to addressing global concerns. It is for this reason that they are deserving recipients of the Leontief Prize. Such innovative ideas might be at the periphery of today"s thought; undoubtedly it is at the frontier of future thought and action.

Akshay Madhavan was a Fletcher student. He was studying International Environmental Policy and International Finance at Fletcher. For further media coverage of the Leontief Event: http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu

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Tufts Institute Awards 2000 Leontief Prize to
Amartya Sen and John Kenneth Galbraith

Amarty Sen accepts the award from Neva Goodwin

GDAE Honors Sen and Galbraith with Inaugural "Leontief Prizes" A standing-room-only crowd packed Fletcher"s ASEAN Auditorium Monday evening to hear Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen speak on "Global Development in the 21st Century." The event also featured the inauguration of the "Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought," which was awarded to Sen and John Kenneth Galbraith. Galbraith, who is recovering from a fall, was unable to attend but was represented by his wife, Katherine Galbraith.

"Today we honor several people who remind us that economics the so-called dismal science can be a powerful tool in the hands of those committed to overcoming the persistent inequalities that plague our world," said Tufts' President John DiBiaggio in opening the event. The president co-hosted the event with Tufts" Global Development And Environment Institute (GDAE), which created the Leontief Prize to honor the memory of Nobel laureate Wassily Leontief, who was a member of the institute's Advisory Board until his death last year.

The gathering also celebrated the publication of GDAE"s "The Political Economy of Inequality," the fifth in the institute's six-volume book series, "Frontier Issues in Economic Thought." Referring to GDAE as "the little institute that could" for it"s remarkable seven-year record of publications, President DiBiaggio called the event "an overdue public recognition of some remarkable contributors to the intellectual life of our university." [see text of President DiBiaggio's remarks]

But the spotlight shone most brightly on economists Sen and Galbraith, as well as Wassily Leontief. "Wassily had no patience for beautiful abstractions without application," noted Dr. Neva Goodwin, an economist who co-directs GDAE with Fletcher professor William Moomaw. "His lifetime work was based on an unwavering assumption, that the purpose of economics is to be useful. Being useful meant making it possible for human beings to interact with the physical world in ways that would better the human condition."

Goodwin presented the first award to Galbraith, lauding him for his work on the problems of inequality and consumerism and for "relentlessly describing the world as he so perceptively sees it -- sometimes leaving theory to come panting in his wake." [see full text of Neva Goodwin's remarks]

"I regret not being able to receive in person an award named for Wassily Leontief, my old friend and admired colleague, and one of the great figures in world economics," Galbraith noted in his remarks, which were read by Bill Moomaw. "We may never see his like again." [see full text of Galbraith remarks]

John Kenneth Galbraith

On the subject of inequality, Galbraith decried the lack of attention to the gap between rich and poor. His 1958 book, "The Affluent Society," highlighted the divergence between "private affluence" and "public squalor." In his remarks, Galbraith poked fun at those in the economics profession who would reject progressive taxation, referring to such an approach as "the 'horse and sparrow' theory of income distribution and its taxation: If you feed a horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows."

Dr. Goodwin then introduced Amartya Sen, who is the Master of Trinity College in Cambridge, England and Lamont University Professor Emeritus at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. "Amartya merges the insights of economics and philosophy through a combination of rigor and humanitarian concern that have not been seen since John Stuart Mill," noted Goodwin in presenting him with the Leontief Prize. "He has insisted that economists must care at least as much about equity as about efficiency, [starting] from the questions: What is a good life? How is it achieved?" [see full text of Sen's remarks]

After thanking GDAE for the award and for its "wonderful series which is making a major impact," he spoke eloquently of the significance of Leontief and Galbraith and their impact on him. He lauded Leontief for his lasting contributions to our understanding of industrial development.

Sen also recalled being strongly influenced as a young man by Galbraith"s "American Capitalism," which he remembered finishing as he nursed a cup of coffee in a Calcutta caf. He referred to Galbraith"s concept of "countervailing powers" as one of his many overlooked contributions. "The idea that one type of power may require other kinds of power to help it stay in balance" continues to be relevant, he noted, pointing out that the Soviet Union's transition suffers today from the absence of institutional countervailing powers to balance market forces.

Sen closed with a discussion of development, stating that there are no perfect models in the world. India, he said, is now the world"s second largest producer of software but still has nearly half its population illiterate. Even the United States, he pointed out, has large segments of its population suffering severe deprivation. He noted as an example that while African-Americans have relatively high incomes compared to people in most developing countries, their life expectancy is lower, one of many "peculiar dichotomies" in the United States.

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History of the Leontief Prize (2000)

The Global Development And Environment Institute established the Leontief Prize in memory of Wassily Leontief, our friend and, from 1993 until his much regretted death in 1999, a member of our external advisory board. It is designed to recognize

outstanding contributions to economic theory
that address contemporary realities
and support just and sustainable societies.

Wassily Leontief is best known for the single, powerful methodological advance which earned him a Nobel Prize in 1973: the invention of input-output analysis. In talking with Wassily, and in reading his work, it was always clear that he perceived his special contribution within an even larger framework.

He was deeply concerned that economics maintain a proper balance between theoretical and empirical analysis. He cared a lot about facts -- the visible wrinkles on the otherwise invisible fabric of Truth. He had no patience for beautiful abstractions without application: his lifetime work was based on an unwavering assumption, that the purpose of economics is to be useful. Being useful meant making it possible for human beings to interact with the physical world in ways that would better the human condition.

Leontief's most concrete influence on the Global Development And Environment Institute grew out of his ongoing relationship with his natal Russia. He encouraged us to develop an introductory economics textbook for that country, whose history has in no way prepared it to use simple translations of U.S. economics texts. With Wassily's encouragement we worked with Russian economists, as well as with Kelvin Lancaster and Thomas Weisskopf in the U.S., to provide an introduction to market economics that takes account of Russia's reality. The resulting textbook was published in Russia in 2002, and has been revised for use in other countries as well.

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