Albert O. Hirschman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Albert Otto Hirschman
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Hirschman (left) interpreting for the accused German Anton Dostler in Italy 1945
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| Born | April 7, 1915 |
| Died | December 10, 2012 (aged 97) |
| Institutions | |
| Field | Political economy |
| Alma mater | University of Trieste University of Paris |
| Contributions | Hiding hand principle |
| Information at IDEAS / RePEc | |
Albert Otto Hirschman (born Otto-Albert Hirschmann; April 7, 1915 – December 10, 2012) was a smart German thinker. He wrote many books about how countries work, especially their economies and governments.
One of his first big ideas was about how countries can grow their economies. He believed that it's okay for different parts of an economy to grow at different speeds. This "unbalanced growth" could actually help push things forward. He thought that encouraging industries that connect with many other businesses was a good way to start.
Later, he explored how people and groups react when things go wrong. He wrote about three main ways people respond: leaving, speaking up, or staying quiet. He also studied the common arguments people use when they don't want things to change.
During World War II, Albert Hirschman played a very important role. He helped many people escape from danger in occupied France.
Contents
About Albert Hirschman
His Early Life and Schooling
Albert Hirschman was born in 1915 in Berlin, Germany. His family was well-off. As a young man, he started studying at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität. He was part of groups that worked against the fascist movement.
Because of the political situation, he moved to Paris to continue his studies. He also studied in London and Trieste, Italy. He earned his doctorate degree in economics in 1938.
In 1936, he took a break from his studies. He volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War for three months. This experience helped him later during World War II.
Helping People Escape During World War II
When France was taken over by the Nazis in 1940, Albert Hirschman did something amazing. He worked with a group called the Emergency Rescue Committee. He helped many famous artists and thinkers escape from France.
He guided them through secret paths in the Pyrenees Mountains to Spain. From there, they could go to Portugal and then to the United States. Some of the people he helped included Marc Chagall and Hannah Arendt. His brave actions during these rescues are even shown in a 2023 Netflix TV series called Transatlantic.
His Career Journey
After the war, Albert Hirschman moved to the United States. From 1943 to 1946, he worked for the Office of Strategic Services. This was a US government agency that later became the CIA. One of his jobs was to be an interpreter for a German general during a trial.
He then worked for the Federal Reserve Board from 1946 to 1952. There, he studied how Europe was rebuilding after the war. He also looked at new international economic groups.
Later, he became a financial advisor in Colombia for a few years. After that, he taught at several famous universities. These included Yale University, Columbia University, and Harvard University. From 1974 until he passed away, he was a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
Albert Hirschman lived to be 97 years old. He passed away on December 10, 2012.
Hirschman's Big Ideas
How Countries Grow (Development Economics)
Albert Hirschman's first major idea was about how countries can become richer. He wrote about this in his 1958 book, The Strategy of Economic Development.
He believed that countries don't need to develop all their industries at the same time. Instead, he suggested that some parts of the economy could grow faster than others. This "unbalanced growth" would create challenges. These challenges would then encourage people to find solutions, which would lead to more growth.
He thought it was smart to support industries that had strong "linkages." This means industries that buy from or sell to many other businesses. For example, if you build a car factory, it needs steel, tires, and glass. This helps those other industries grow too.
He also helped develop the idea of the "hiding hand principle." This suggests that people often start big projects because they don't fully know how hard they will be. If they knew, they might not start! But once they begin, they find creative ways to solve problems.
How People React to Problems
Later in his career, Hirschman focused on how people and groups respond to problems. In his 1970 book, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty, he described three main ways:
- Exit: This means leaving or quitting. For example, if you don't like a store, you might stop shopping there.
- Voice: This means speaking up. If you don't like something, you might complain or try to change it.
- Loyalty: This means staying quiet and sticking with something, even if you don't like it.
He also wrote about the common arguments people use when they are against new ideas. In his 1991 book, The Rhetoric of Reaction, he explained three types of arguments often used by people who want to keep things the same:
- Perversity: Arguing that a new idea will make things worse, not better.
- Futility: Saying that a new idea won't make any difference.
- Jeopardy: Claiming that a new idea will put something important at risk.
The Herfindahl–Hirschman Index
In 1945, Albert Hirschman came up with a way to measure how much a few big companies control a market. This is called market concentration. Another economist, Orris C. Herfindahl, later came up with a similar idea. So, it's now known as the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index. It's used to see if a market is too controlled by just a few businesses.
Books He Wrote
Albert Hirschman wrote many important books, including:
- 1958. The Strategy of Economic Development.
- 1970. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States.
- 1977. The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments For Capitalism Before Its Triumph.
- 1991. The Rhetoric of Reaction: Perversity, Futility, Jeopardy.
Awards and Recognition
Albert Hirschman was a highly respected thinker. He was a member of important groups like the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 2003, he won the Benjamin E. Lippincott Award. This award recognized his book The Passions and the Interests as an outstanding work in political theory.
In 2007, a special annual prize was created in his honor by the Social Science Research Council.
See Also
In Spanish: Albert O. Hirschman para niños
- Economic development
- Hirschman cycle
- Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Model
- Latin American studies
- Fernando Henrique Cardoso
- Guillermo O'Donnell
- Philippe C. Schmitter
