Migration and Americanization: The special case of Belgian economics*

Abstract

One of the distinguishing features of Belgian economics is that, from the early 1920s, so many of Belgium's best economists pursued postgraduate studies at top American universities, a case of ‘temporary’ migration. This was made possible by the fellowships granted by the Commission for Relief in Belgium, a legacy of the First World War. After a stay in the US of a few years, most returned to Belgium. However, they maintained strong links with the US. Also, they tried to recreate in Belgium the most valuable elements of their American experience. It would lead to a strong and early Americanization of Belgian economics. Moreover, they were at the forefront of several initiatives to organize economics on a European scale, such as the European Economic Review and the European Economic Association.

Keywords:

• Belgian economics
• migration
• Americanization
• Commission for Relief in Belgium

Notes

Ivo Maes, Robert Triffin Chair, Institut d'Etudes européennes, Université catholique de Louvain and K. U. Leuven

 * The authors would like to thank all the persons who contributed to this paper, especially the participants of the Eight Annual European Conference on the History of Economics as well as two anonymous referees, for comments and suggestions. The usual caveats apply.

During the recent decades, the Americanization of European economics has become a fashionable topic of debate, see, for instance, Portes (1987), Kolm (1988), Frey and Eichenberger (1993) and the contributions in the special Kyklos volume (Frey and Frey, 1995). It has also inspired a lot of historical research on the internationalization or Americanization of economics, focusing on the postwar period. See, for instance, the contributions in Coats (1996a, 2000), and Aslanbeigui and Montecinos (1998).

On the influence of German-speaking immigrants on American economics, see, e.g. Scherer (2000).

On the French engineers, cf. Drèze (1964) and Schmidt (2000). On Tinbergen and the specific Dutch econometric school, cf. van Dalen and Klamer (1997). For a detailed comparison of the Dutch and Belgian experiences, cf. Buyst et al. (2003).

In 1938 the name was changed to Belgian American Educational Foundation.

The American influence was in fact much larger than the figures suggest as several professors and other CRB fellows became top politicians and/or top business people in Belgium. For more details, see Belgian and American CRB Fellows (1950) and Bertrams (2001).

For Germany, see e.g. Hardach (1974); for Belgium, Henau (1995); for France Mouré (1991).

For more details about Kemmerer's work, see Dalgaard (1982).

For more details, see, e.g. Van der Wee and Tavernier (1975).

R.J. Lemoine was also affiliated to the NBB's economics department (de Oliveira 1937).

Manifestation en l'honneur de monsieur Léon Dupriez, Leuven, 1934.

The Institut für Konjunkturforschung, for instance, became involved in Nazi economic policies (Krengel 1986; Tooze 1999).

Charles Roger (Harvard, 1930 – 2), Charles Demeure (advanced fellow, 1930 and 1937) Gérard Baptist (Cornell, 1932 – 5), Robert Triffin (Harvard, 1935 – 8), Emile Mallien (Harvard, 1937 – 8).

Archives K.U.Leuven, Ladeuze, nr. 16, Letter of the Rockefeller Foundation to Rector Ladeuze, 17 March 1933. See also Craver (1986).

Son of Léon Dupriez mentioned above. With his father, he stayed in Cambridge (MA) during most of the First World War. In 1918 – 19 he was a freshman at Harvard (de Oliveira 1937).

Jacques van Ypersele, who later became a chairman of the Monetary Committee of the EC, made his PhD with Triffin and Alexandre Lamfalussy was a Visiting Professor at Yale.

There are some interesting parallels between Triffin and the role that Italian émigrés such as Sraffa and Modigliani played in relation to Italian economics. Both Cambridges were poles of attraction for Italian students. Furthermore, Modigliani and Sraffa were also influential in Italy. Modigliani was also involved in the elaboration of the econometric model of the Banca d'Italia.

According to Coddington (1976), hydraulic Keynesianism centres on the belief that there are stable relations among the various flows in the economy, which provide a basis for active government policy.

Archives ULB: 164: Letter of J. Waelbroeck, 18 January 1975.

The reason was that, becoming an editor of Econometrica, Drèze needed a secretary. However, according to university regulations, he could only obtain a secretary if he was director of an institute.

On the role of the Ford Foundation in Europe see Gemelli (1998).

Association Scientifique européenne pour la Prévision économique à Moyen et Long Terme.

It is interesting to note that Glejser was born in Vienna in 1938. His family emigrated to Belgium when he was less than a year old. It further confirms that émigrés, who are rooted in different national traditions, are prone to become involved in the process of internationalization.

For a comparison, see the country studies in Coats (2000).

A common element in the two periods is also a tendency towards quantification. However, there were differences in the type of quantification in the two periods. Moreover, in Europe there were very strong quantitative economic traditions with, e.g. Tinbergen in the Netherlands, Frisch in Norway and the French engineers.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ivo Maes

Ivo Maes, Robert Triffin Chair, Institut d'Etudes européennes, Université catholique de Louvain and K. U. Leuven