Gerald M. Meier papers, 1928-2003, bulk dates 1941-2001

Navigate the Collection

Using These Materials Teaser

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials


Restrictions:
Access restricted. Accession 2010-0211 requires additional arrangement, description, and/or screening because it is unprocessed. Contact Research Services for more information. Access note. Some...
More about accessing and using these materials...

Summary

Creator:
Meier, Gerald M.
Abstract:
Gerald M. Meier (1923-2011) was the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of International Economics and Policy Analysis, Emeritus at Stanford University. This collection documents his professional life through his correspondence, writings and speeches, and research. It forms parts of the Economists' Papers Archive.
Extent:
7.75 Linear Feet (Seven boxes and one oversize folder.)
Language:
Material in English.
Collection ID:
RL.00884

Background

Scope and content:

This collection documents the growth of Meier's career from a student of economics to an academic economist. It personal and professional correspondence; lectures; course notes taken as a student or developed for his lectures on international economic relations; syllabi, reading lists, exams, and other course materials; material relating to conferences attended; published writings; and audiotapes of interviews relating to the evolution of development economics.

The Correspondence series is largely of a professional nature, and is chiefly concerned with international and development economics. Prominent among Meier's correspondents were Peter Bauer, Gottfried Haberler, W. A. Lewis, Hla Myint, Paul Rosenstein-Rodan, W. W. Rostow, Dudley Seers, H. W. Singer, and Paul Streeten.

Many of Meier's major publications are represented in the Writings and Speeches series. These include Economic Development, Emerging from Poverty, The International Economics of Development, International Trade and Development, Leading Issues in Development Economics, Pioneers in Development, and the Problems series of books.

Though there are more than a few folders containing materials on conferences attended by Meier, by and large the Subject Files series contains a great deal of course material. From his days as a student, there are notes, exams, syllabi, reading lists, and bibliographies from Reed College, Harvard University, and University of Oxford concerning courses taken under Edward Chamberlin, Gottfried Haberler, John Hicks, Wassily Leontief, and others. Also, there is material representing the several law courses Meier enrolled in at Yale University and Stanford University. Among the lecture notes from Williams College, Wesleyan University, Yale University, and Stanford University, there are also syllabi, exams, and reading lists representing his tenure as a professor. Of particular note are the several folders concerning Meier's role in the genesis and growth of the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan University.

Accession 2010-0211 contains reprints of his articles (1949-1984) and material from his lectures and presentations on development economics (1986-2002). It also includes some miscellaneous correspondence, grant proposals, and book reviews. A large portion of the accession relates to Meier's writings, including his drafts and correspondence from several books, especially Frontiers of Development Economics (2001) and Development: Biography of a Subject (2004). Another section of interest is Meier's collection of materials on the career of John Hicks, a 1972 Nobel Prize-winning economist. The collection includes article reprints written by Hicks, some clippings about his life, and an undated, unpublished manuscript titled "The Theory of Demand and the Theory of Welfare."

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1923, Feb. 9
Born, Tacoma, WA
1947
BA, Social Science, Reed College
Phi Beta Kappa
1948-1950, 1951-1952
Rhodes Scholar
1952
B. Litt., Economics, University of Oxford
1953
PhD, Economics, Harvard University
1954, Oct. 23
Married Gilda Slote; four children: David, Daniel, Jeremy, and Andrew
1954-1959
Assistant Professor and Professor of Economics, Wesleyan University
1957
Economic Development
1957-1958
Guggenheim Fellow
1959-1963
Chester D. Hubbard Professor of Economics, Wesleyan University
1961-1962
Brookings National Research Professorship
1963
International Trade and Development
1963-1992
Konosuke Matsushita Professor of International Economics and Policy Analysis, Stanford University
1964
Leading Issues in Development Economics
1968
The International Economics of Development
1970
Leading Issues In Economic Development; Studies In International Poverty
1973
Problems of a Trade Policy
1974
Problems of Cooperation for Development
1974
Problems of a World Monetary Order
1974-1975
Rockefeller Foundation Research Grant
1977
Employment, Trade, and Development
1980
International Economics: Theory of Policy
1983
Pricing Policy for Development Management
1984
Emerging from Poverty: The Economics that Really Matters
1985
Coeditor, Pioneers in Development
1986
Financing Asian Development: Performance and Prospects
1989
Asian Development: Economic Success And Policy Lessons
1992
Retired from Stanford University
1998
The International Environment of Business: Competition and Governance in the Global Economy
2011, June 21
Died in Stanford, CA
Acquisition information:
The Gerald M. Meier papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library as gifts between 1999-2010.
Processing information:

Processed by John Bauman, July 2001.

Encoded by Michael Shumate.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 1999-0410, 2003-0027, 2004-0001, 2005-0070, and 2010-0211.

The vast majority of Meier's papers came to the library in their original folders. Their labels, however, were often informal in their syntax. In order to file folders in an orderly manner, some labels were altered, but with the topical sense retained. In a few cases, folder titles were supplied because no title existed or else the notations were insufficient.

The order of the folders was random throughout the cartons. While folders were rearranged, original order was preserved within each folder. Thus, the inter-relations between items within individual folders may be tenuous (e.g., Harvard University syllabi concerning a course on International Economics in a folder titled "Wesleyan Courses" which has lecture notes on International Economics).

Arrangement:

The Gerald M. Meier papers are arranged into three series: Correspondence, Writings and Speeches, and Subject Files.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials


Restrictions:

Access restricted. Accession 2010-0211 requires additional arrangement, description, and/or screening because it is unprocessed. Contact Research Services for more information.

Access note. Some materials are fragile audiovisual/photographic formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

Before you visit:
Please consult our up-to-date information for visitors page, as our services and guidelines periodically change.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Gerald M. Meier papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.