IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bas/econth/y2016i1p133-141.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foundations of Contemporary Economics: Alexander Gerschenkron

Author

Listed:
  • Teodor Sedlarski
  • Henrik Egbert

Abstract

Alexander Gerschenkron was one of the leading economic historians and development economists of the 20th century. His book of essays, Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective, is one of the most important books ever published in economic history. This text summarizes two of Gerschenkron’s ideas, which have influenced the development theory beyond its originally European contexts: Firstly, the calculation of Sowjet growth rates which were a puzzle in his time. The detected calculation mistakes of the Sowjet economy are nowadays known as the Gerschenkron effect. Secondly, we illustrate some of the aspects of his central theory of economic backwardness for industrialization and catch-up development processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Teodor Sedlarski & Henrik Egbert, 2016. "Foundations of Contemporary Economics: Alexander Gerschenkron," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 1, pages 133-141.
    • Handle: RePEc:bas:econth:y:2016:i:1:p:133-141
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://etj.iki.bas.bg/storage/app/uploads/public/62f/b46/35d/62fb4635db572756990967.pdf
    Download Restriction: Bulgarian
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Acemoglu, Daron & Robinson, James A., 2006. "Economic Backwardness in Political Perspective," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 100(1), pages 115-131, February.
    2. Veblen, Thorstein, 1915. "Imperial Germany and The Industrial Revolution," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number veblen1915.
    3. Rosovsky, Henry, 1979. "Alexander Gerschenkron: A Personal and Fond Recollection," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(04), pages 1009-1013, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Henrik Egbert & Teodor Sedlarski, 2021. "Foundations of contemporary economics: Mancur Olson and collective action," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 126-134.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tan, Na & Liang, Xiaojun & Chang, Liang, 2024. "Growing older and growing technologically backward? Population ageing and high-technology exports of 171 countries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    2. Ziad Rotaba & Catherine Beaudry, 2012. "How Do High, Medium, And Low Tech Firms Innovate? A System Of Innovation (Si) Approach," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(05), pages 1-23.
    3. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:8:y:2008:i:2:p:1-11 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jan Fagerberg & Martin Srholec, 2017. "Global Dynamics, Capabilities and the Crisis," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Uwe Cantner (ed.), Foundations of Economic Change, pages 83-106, Springer.
    5. Coşgel, Metin M. & Miceli, Thomas J. & Rubin, Jared, 2012. "The political economy of mass printing: Legitimacy and technological change in the Ottoman Empire," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 357-371.
    6. Antonio Bubbico, 2013. "Administrative Continuity: Enhancer or Constraint for Regional Governments' Efficiency?," ERSA conference papers ersa13p493, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Lamberova, Natalia, 2021. "The puzzling politics of R&D: Signaling competence through risky projects," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 801-818.
    8. Hasnain, Zahid, 2011. "Incentive compatible reforms : the political economy of public investments in Mongolia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5667, The World Bank.
    9. Bruce Truitt Elmslie, 1995. "Retrospective: The Convergence Debate between David Hume and Josiah Tucker," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 207-216, Fall.
    10. Herrendorf, Berthold & Teixeira, Arilton, 2003. "Monopoly Rights can Reduce Income Big Time," CEPR Discussion Papers 3854, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Marco Alberto De Benedetto, 2014. "Incumbency Advantage at Municipal Elections in Italy: A Quasi-Experimental Approach," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 1408, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    12. Ralf Dahrendorf, 1996. "Economic Opportunity, Civil Society and Political Liberty," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 27(2), pages 229-249, April.
    13. Luisa Giuriato, 2009. "Combining Autocracy and Majority Voting: The Canonical Succession Rules of the Latin Church," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Mario Ferrero & Ronald Wintrobe (ed.), The Political Economy of Theocracy, chapter 6, pages 143-164, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Giorgio Bellettini & Carlotta Berti Ceroni & Giovanni Prarolo, 2013. "Persistence Of Politicians And Firms' Innovation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(4), pages 2056-2070, October.
    15. D. Patinkin, 1995. "The training of an economist," BNL Quarterly Review, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, vol. 48(195), pages 359-395.
    16. Aghion, Philippe & Akcigit, Ufuk & Howitt, Peter, 2014. "What Do We Learn From Schumpeterian Growth Theory?," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 515-563, Elsevier.
    17. David H. Kreitmeir & Paul A. Raschky, 2023. "The Unintended Consequences of Censoring Digital Technology - Evidence from Italy's ChatGPT Ban," SoDa Laboratories Working Paper Series 2023-01, Monash University, SoDa Laboratories.
    18. Bjørnskov, Christian & Schröder, Philipp J.H., 2013. "Are debt repayment incentives undermined by foreign aid?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 1073-1091.
    19. Diogo Ferraz & Fernanda P. S. Falguera & Enzo B. Mariano & Dominik Hartmann, 2021. "Linking Economic Complexity, Diversification, and Industrial Policy with Sustainable Development: A Structured Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-29, January.
    20. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    21. Iyigun, Murat & Rubin, Jared & Seror, Avner, 2021. "A theory of cultural revivals," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bas:econth:y:2016:i:1:p:133-141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Diana Dimitrova (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ikbasbg.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.