CYCLES, MARKETS AND NETWORKS
The Quantitative Approach to Business Cycle Analysis in the 1930s and
1940s
Conference to be held at the University of Antwerp, Belgium
15-16 September 2005
CALL FOR PAPERS
Many of the pioneers of the econometric movement in the 1930s made
important contributions to the mathematical and statistical analysis of
business cycles. The works of Jan Tinbergen, Ragnar Frisch and Michal
Kalecki are well-known examples of the econometric approach to business
cycle analysis. But this type of research was by no means limited to a
few frontrunners. Throughout the 1930s economists, engineers,
mathematicians and others were constructing models and applying
quantitative techniques in order to explain and to understand the
cyclical movements of the economy. This led, for instance, to the
interdisciplinary research of the X-Crise group at the Ecole
Polytechnique in Paris, or to the solitary work of the engineer Bernard
Chait on networks of markets. In the 1940s further developments were
made by the dynamic interpretations of input-output and activity
analysis models.
The purpose of the conference is to focus on the history of these early
attempts to use quantitative techniques in the analysis of the business
cycle. The subject can be tackled from a wide variety of perspectives,
including amongst others: the assessment of individual contributions;
the analysis and evaluation of the impact of learned societies (e.g. the
Econometric Society), of research centres (e.g. the Cowles Commission),
of journals (e.g. Econometrica), or of conferences (e.g. the meetings of
the Econometric Society); the significance of the introduction of new
mathematical techniques; their influence on economic policy, etc. The
conference is by no means limited to the European or American
traditions, or to the 'econometric' method per se. We welcome proposals
dealing with contributions which came from other parts of the world or
that were critical of the econometric approach. We especially encourage
the submission of papers based on archival research and of papers rich
in detail and yielding original insights.
Paper proposals must provide information about the author (name,
address, institutional affiliation) and the title of the contribution,
and contain an abstract of about 500 words. Proposals should be
submitted electronically, either in Word or PDF format.
The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2005. Authors will be
notified of acceptance or rejection by 1 March 2005. The final papers
are due on 1 August 2005.
Submissions and requests for information should be addressed to:
Guido Erreygers
Department of Economics, University of Antwerp
Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerpen, Belgium
Tel. +32-3-220 40 52, Fax +32-3-220 45 85
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Additional information will be made available at the conference
website:
http://www.ua.ac.be/cycles
The scientific committee consists of Mauro Boianovsky (University of
Brasilia), Guido Erreygers (University of Antwerp), Albert Jolink
(Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Wilfried Parys (University of
Antwerp).
Guido Erreygers
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