Béla Alexander Balassa (6 April 1928 – 10 May 1991) was a Hungarian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and professor at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...

and a consultant for the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. Balassa is best known for his work on the relationship between purchasing power parity and cross-country productivity differences (the

Balassa–Samuelson effect The Balassa–Samuelson effect, also known as Harrod–Balassa–Samuelson effect (Kravis and Lipsey 1983), the Ricardo–Viner–Harrod–Balassa–Samuelson–Penn–Bhagwati effect (Samuelson 1994, p. 201), or productivity biased purchasin ...

). He is also known for his work on

revealed comparative advantage The revealed comparative advantage is an index used in international economics for calculating the relative advantage or disadvantage of a certain country in a certain class of goods or services as evidenced by trade flows. It is based on the Ricar ...

. Balassa received a law degree from the

University of Budapest A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. He left Hungary after the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hung ...

and went to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. While there, he received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation to study at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, where he received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics in 1958 and 1959, respectively. He won the

John Addison Porter John Addison Porter (March 15, 1822 – August 25, 1866) was an American professor of chemistry and physician. He is the namesake of the John Addison Porter Prize and was a founder of the Scroll and Key senior society of Yale University. Aca ...

Prize for 1959. Balassa also did extensive consulting work for the World Bank, serving as an advisor about development and trade policy. According to an authoritative history of the Bank, Balassa was "a protagonist of the Bank's conceptual transformation in the trade-policy area during the 1970s." Beyond economics, Balassa was a noted gourmet who compiled and periodically updated an unofficial guide to eating well in Paris while remaining within an international agency expense allowance, which circulated among his friends and colleagues.Balassa, Béla. '' A Primer in Culinary Economics, or How to Maximize the Culinary Utility of the Dollar in Paris.'' Processed. 8th edition, 1987.

Publications

*''The Theory of Economic Integration''. George Allen & Unwin Ltd. London : 1961. *''Trade prospects for developing countries'', Homewood, Ill. : 1964. *''Trade Liberalization Among Industrial Countries : Objectives and Alternatives''. Published for the Council on Foreign Relations by McGraw-Hill. New York : 1967. *''The Role of Foreign Trade in the Economic Development of Korea'', in ''Foreign Trade and Investment'', University of Wisconsin Press. *''The Newly Industrializing Countries in the World Economy'', Pergamon Press: New York. *''Policy Responses to External Shocks in Hungary and Yugoslavia: 1974-76 and 1979-81'', Volume 1, ''Economic Performance and Policy'', Printed for the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, October 28, 1985. *''Policy Experiments in Chile, 1973-1983'', in ''The National Economic Policies of Chile'',

Edward Altman Edward I. Altman (born June 5, 1941) is a Professor of Finance, Emeritus, at New York University's Stern School of Business. He is best known for the development of the Altman Z-score for predicting bankruptcy which he published in 1968. Pro ...

and Ingo Walter, Eds, New York University. *''The "New Growth Path" in Hungary'', in ''Banca Nazionale del Lavoro Quarterly Review'', December 1985.

Biography

*1962–1967 teaching assistant at Yale University *1966–1991 Professor at Johns Hopkins University *1966– Advisor, the World Bank *1970–1971 editor of REStat; chairman of the Association of Comparative Economics *1979–1980 chairman of the Association of Comparative Economic Studies *1980 Institut de France, Laureate

References

1928 births 1991 deaths Members of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Johns Hopkins University faculty 20th-century Hungarian economists {{Economist-stub