Zvi Griliches
Candlefocus EditorGriliches was born in 1930 in Lithuania and in 1949, he immigrated to the United States. He was accepted to Harvard University, where he earned a B.A. in 1951 and a doctorate in economics in 1954. At Harvard, he was exposed to the field of economics for the first time and quickly developed a deep understanding of the field, which eventually led him to undertake research in the areas of applied economics and econometrics.
In 1959, Griliches was appointed assistant professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he focused primarily on productivity and economic growth. From 1964 to 1967, he held a professorship at Harvard University and from 1967 to 1969 he held the position of professor at the University of Chicago.
As an economist and econometrician, Griliches published over 200 papers covering topics ranging from measures of productivity to the economic effects of technological change. He developed numerous empirical methods and tools, including a technique to accurately measure investment in research and development and other intangible assets. He also examined the behavior of resource markets and argued that economic growth should be analyzed in terms of techniques or technology instead of factors of production.
Griliches received numerous awards and honors in his lifetime. In 1969, he received the John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economic Association, and in 1992 he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for “his empirical findings and theoretical insights in the analysis of economic growth.” He was also a distinguished lecturer at many universities, including Stanford University and the University of Chicago.
Griliches’ influence in the field of economics and econometrics has been long-lasting and far-reaching, as his work continues to be cited and referenced in economics research. He was instrumental in developing modern economic methods and theories, and is credited with having greatly impacted the economics research community. He was known for his enthusiasm for research and his interest in the role of technology in economic growth and productivity. His work has had a lasting effect on economics, and his contributions to the field have been highly valued.