Elise Brezis
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Elise Scheiner Brezis, professor of economics at
Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...
, is the director of the Azrieli Center for Economic Policy. She has been the head of the Statistics division at the Research Department in the
Bank of Israel The Bank of Israel ( he, בנק ישראל, ar, بنك إسرائيل) is the central bank of Israel. The bank's headquarters is located in Kiryat HaMemshala in Jerusalem with a branch office in Tel Aviv. The current governor is Amir Yaron. T ...
, and from 1999 to 2003, she was the president of the Israeli Association for the Study of European Integration. She holds a PhD in economics from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(1989). Her first works in economic history were on 18th century England and are where she developed previously nonexistent data on the
balance of payment In international economics, the balance of payments (also known as balance of international payments and abbreviated BOP or BoP) of a country is the difference between all money flowing into the country in a particular period of time (e.g., a ...
s of the UK. Her research interests are related to economic growth. Her main works are in two fields: the first is the interaction between
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
and
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
emphasizing the stratification of society and focusing on the elites; the second is technology, demography and economic growth. In the former, she has been on the forefront of research in the field of
elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
s. In the latter, her most cited work dealing with technology and growth on leapfrogging in international competition, a paper on the theory of cycles in national technological leadership that she worked on with
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...
, published in the ''
American Economic Review The ''American Economic Review'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious and highly distinguished journals in the field of ec ...
'' in 1993. She is also a fellow at the Minerva Center for Growth in Jerusalem and serves on the editorial board of Cliometrica.


Contributions


''Elites and Economics''

Brezis examines the evolution of recruitment of elites and investigates the nature of the links between recruitment of elites and economic growth. The main change that occurred in the way the Western world recruited its elites is that meritocracy became the basis for their recruitment. Although meritocratic selection should result in the best being chosen, she shows that meritocratic recruitment actually leads to class stratification and auto-recruitment. Brezis's book examines the relationship between elites, minorities, and economic growth. The novelty of the book lies in its focus on the interaction between social and economic changes during economic growth.


''Technology and Economic Growth''

1. In Brezis's work with Krugman, they emphasized that endogenous-growth theory suggests that technological change tends to reinforce the position of the leading nations. Yet sometimes this leadership role shifts. They suggest a mechanism that explains this pattern of 'leapfrogging' as a response to occasional major changes in technology. 2. On government policy towards technological development, Brezis argues that the method used for financing projects is too conservative: Peer review mechanism has a clear bias against innovative ideas. In consequence, proposals for new ideas are too often rejected. Brezis proposes to adopt a Focal Randomization mechanism. 3. Brezis and Warren Young have studied together the new views on
demographic transition In demography, demographic transition is a phenomenon and theory which refers to the historical shift from high birth rates and high death rates in societies with minimal technology, education (especially of women) and economic development, to l ...
, in which they reassess Malthus and Marx's approach to population. Their paper examines the divergence of views of Marx and Malthus regarding the family and the labor market. In short, children of developing countries are a necessity so they can not be seen as a consumption good.


''Economics of Transition''

Brezis has examined the transition process that took place in Eastern Europe. She analyzes why the transition process is different in Eastern Europe and in Asia, and shows that the main difference between Eastern Europe who has turned to democracy to China which is still non-democratic is the relationship between economic and political structures. Moreover, looking at the history of the transition process, it is striking that the historical path in Eastern Europe was dominated by its geographic situation. Her research explain why geography matters and present a structure that makes a relationship between geography and transition.


Main works


Elites

"Elites, Minorities and Economic Growth", ed. with
Peter Temin Peter Temin (; born 17 December 1937) is an economist and economic historian, currently Gray Professor Emeritus of Economics, MIT and former head of the Economics Department. Education Temin graduated from Swarthmore College in 1959 before earnin ...
, North Holland,
Elsevier Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', th ...
, 1999 "The Role of Higher Education Institutions: Recruitment of Elites and Economic Growth" (with
François Crouzet François Crouzet (20 October 1922 – 20 March 2010) was a French historian. Considered the greatest French historian of Britain of his generation, he was Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the Université de Paris-Sorbonne at the time of h ...
) in T. Eicher, eds. Institutions and Economic Growth,
MIT Press The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States). It was established in 1962. History The MIT Press traces its origins back to 1926 when MIT publish ...
, 2006:191-213. "Elites and Economic Outcomes" in S. Durlauf and L. Blume, eds.
New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'' (2018), 3rd ed., is a twenty-volume reference work on economics published by Palgrave Macmillan. It contains around 3,000 entries, including many classic essays from the original Inglis Palgrave Diction ...
. 2008.
Changes in the Training of the Power Elites in Western Europe
, ed. with F. Crouzet, The Journal of European Economic History. 2004.
"Why are Elites self-Reproducing? The Effects of Higher Education on Social mobility at the Top"


Technology, demography and growth

"Leapfrogging in International Competition: A Theory of Cycles in National Technological Leadership." (with
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...
and Daniel Tsiddon),
American Economic Review The ''American Economic Review'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious and highly distinguished journals in the field of ec ...
, December 1993, pp. 1211 1219. "Technology and Life Cycle of Cities"(with
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...
), Journal of Economic Growth, December 1997, pp. 369–383. “Focal Randomization: An optimal Mechanism for the Evaluation of R&D projects", Science and Public Policy, December 2007, 34(9). "Immigration, Investments and Growth" (with
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was th ...
), Journal of Population Economics, 9, 1996, pp. 83 93. https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jopoec/v9y1996i1p83-93.html "Social Classes, Demographic Transition and Economic Growth", European Economic Review, 2001, 45: 707–717. "The New views on Demographic Transition: A Reassessment of Malthus's and Marx's Approach to Population" (with Warren Young), European Journal of Economic Thought, 2003, 10: 25–45. "Can Demographic Transition only be Explained by Altruistic and Neo-Malthusian Models?", Journal of Socio-Economics, 2009.


Economic history and economics of transition

"Britain's Balance of Payments in the Century before Waterloo: New Estimates, Controlled Conjectures", Economic History Review, February 1995, pp. 46 67. “The Role of Assignats during the French Revolution: Evil or Rescuer?” (with Francois Crouzet), Journal of European Economic History, April 1995, pp. 7‑40. “Did Foreign Capital Flows Finance the Industrial Revolution? A reply”, Economic History Review, February 1997 "Mercantilism" Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History,
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2003, vol. 3, pp. 482–85. “Why are the Transition Paths in China and Eastern Europe Different? A Political Economy Perspective” (with Adi Schnytzer), Economics of Transition, 2003, 11:3-23. “Political Institutions and Economic Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe: A Snowball Effect” (with Thierry Verdier) Economic Systems, 2003, 27:289-311.


References


Sources


BIU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brezis, Elise Israeli economists Living people Israeli women economists Year of birth missing (living people)