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Robert W. Fogel

ロバート・W・フォーゲル

Robāto W. Fōgeru

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1926-07-01 （New York City, U.S.）
Died
2013-06-11 （Oak Lawn, Illinois, U.S.） age 86
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism (family background)
Residence History
New York City (birth — youth) → Rochester (faculty / visiting periods) → Chicago (University of Chicago) → Cambridge, Massachusetts (NBER affiliation) → Oak Lawn, Illinois (place of death)

Career

Occupations
economic historian, economist, professor, population economics researcher
Active Years
1948-2013
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University, University of Rochester, University of Chicago (Booth School of Business), Harvard University, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Center for Population Economics, University of Chicago
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, American Philosophical Society
Influenced By
Simon Kuznets, Evsey Domar, Abba Lerner, Fritz Machlup
Influenced
Deirdre McCloskey (colleague and mentee), Many U.S. economic historians (academic lineage)

Education

Cornell University
History (minor in Economics)
Degree: BA
Period: 在学期間不明
Year of Graduation: 1948
Country: United States
Majored in history; involved in political organizations during college
Columbia University
Economics
Degree: MA
Period: 在学期間不明
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: United States
Studied under George Stigler and others
Johns Hopkins University
Economics
Degree: PhD
Period: 在学期間不明
Year of Graduation: 1963
Country: United States
PhD research and dissertation

Awards

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
1993
Work: For renewing research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods
Organization: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Nobel Committee)
Result: 受賞
Bancroft Prize
1975
Work: For scholarly work (specific work not specified here)
Organization: Columbia University Libraries (awarding)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Railroads and American Economic Growth

1964 Economic history / Scholarly

A quantitative assessment of railroads' contribution to 19th-century U.S. economic growth, challenging views that railroads were indispensable.

cliometricstransportation and economic developmentquantitative analysis

Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery

1974 Economic history / Controversial study

Co-authored with Stanley Engerman. Used plantation records to quantitatively analyze the economics of slavery, arguing it was profitable for owners, which sparked major controversy.

economic analysis of slaveryquantitative historyplantation economics

Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery

1989 Economic history / Social history

A two-volume response to criticisms of Time on the Cross, detailing humanitarian and social aspects of slavery and examining the historical path to abolition.

lives of the enslavedabolition movementmoral evaluation

The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism

2000 Social history / Religious history

Argues that religion, especially evangelicalism, has driven America's ethical and egalitarian shifts and presents a cyclical 'Great Awakenings' framework.

religion and social changeevangelicalismmoral history

The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death, 1700–2100

2004 Population economics / History of public health 189 pages

Analyzes the role of nutrition and health improvements in long-term mortality decline and economic growth, discussing technophysio evolution.

nutrition and healthdemographytechnophysio evolution

The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World since 1700

2011 Scholarly / Population economic history

Uses physiological indicators such as height to quantify health improvements over centuries and links them to socioeconomic change; coauthored work.

physiological indicatorslong-term health trendshistory of nutrition

Bibliography

  • The Union Pacific Railroad: A Case in Premature Enterprise (1960)
  • Railroads and American Economic Growth (1964)
  • Time on the Cross (1974, co-authored)
  • Which Road to the Past? (1983)
  • Without Consent or Contract (1989)
  • Economic Growth, Population Theory and Physiology (1994)
  • The Fourth Great Awakening (2000)
  • The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death (2004)
  • The Changing Body (2011, co-authored)
  • Explaining Long-Term Trends in Health and Longevity (2012)
  • Political Arithmetic (2013, co-authored)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Quantitative, econometric scholarly styleInterdisciplinary approach combining economics, history, demography and nutrition
Recurring Motifs
cliometrics (quantitative history)history of nutrition and healthinteraction of demography and economic growthtechnophysio evolution

Legacy

Fogel introduced quantitative methods into historical research and renewed the practice of economic history. His work on slavery, population, and nutrition provoked wide debate and influence in academia; he received the Nobel Prize in 1993.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • National Academy of Sciences
  • American Philosophical Society

Archives

  • University of Chicago archives (possible repository of Fogel materials)

Quotes

  • “For having renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative methods in order to explain economic and institutional change.”
    Source: Nobel Prize citation (1993) (1993)

Trivia

  • Graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1944.
  • Married Enid Cassandra Morgan (an African-American) in 1949, at a time when interracial marriage faced legal and social difficulties.
  • Was involved with communist organizations in his youth but later rejected communism.
  • Mentored many prominent economic historians and left a large academic lineage in U.S. economic history.