Inventory of the Tibor Scitovsky Papers, 1925-2002 and undated, bulk 1973-2002
[top]Descriptive Summary
Repository
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke
University
Creator
Scitovsky, Tibor
Title
Tibor Scitovsky Papers,
1925-2002 and
undated, bulk 1973-2002
Language of Material
Material
in English
Extent
1.2 Linear Feet
800 Items
Abstract
800 Items
Tibor Scitovsky,
Hungarian-born economist, served on the faculty at Stanford and the University
of California at Berkeley. Author of THE JOYLESS ECONOMY: AN INQUIRY INTO HUMAN
SATISFACTION AND CONSUMER DISSATISFACTION (1976).
The papers of Tibor Scitovsky span the
years 1925 to 2002, with the majority dating from the 1970s to 2002, and are
composed of three major series: Correspondence, Financial and Personal
Materials; Writings and Speeches; and Printed Materials.
[top]
Administrative Information
Access RestrictionsCollection is open for research.
However, collection may contain materials to which the
Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies.
Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in
Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour
delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare
Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Copyright Notice
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred
to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the
Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special
Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Tibor Scitovsky Papers, Rare Book,
Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The Tibor Scitovsky Papers were received by the Rare Book,
Manuscript, and Special Collections Library as a gift in 2003.
Processing Information
Processed by Monecia Samuels, June 2005
Encoded by Monecia Samuels and Paula Jeannet Mangiafico
Completed March 2006
Accessions 2003-0027 and 2004-0001 were merged into one collection,
described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local
Style Guide.
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Biographical Note
| 1910 | Born in Budapest, Hungary |
| 1932 | Earned J.D. at University of Budapest |
| 1938 | Earned M.Sc. from the London School of Economics |
| 1939 | Arrived in the United States as Leon Traveling Fellow |
| 1943-1946 | Served in the United States Army |
| 1945 | Earned Bronze Medal from the U.S. Army |
| 1946 | Recruited to Stanford University's Economics Department by Bernard Haley |
| 1951 | Publication of Welfare and Competition: The Economics of a Fully Employed Economy |
| 1958 | Left Stanford for UC Berkeley |
| 1965 |
Became a visiting professor at Harvard
Fellow for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development in Paris
|
| 1966 | Appointment at Harvard ended |
| 1968 | Appointed Heinz Professor of Economics at Yale |
| 1969 | Publication of Money and the Balance of Payments |
| 1970 |
Publication of
Industry and Trade in Some Developing
Countries: A Comparative Study
Returned to Stanford to teach Economics
Became Stanford's first Eberle Professor of
Economics
|
| 1972 | Began the first holder of the Eberle Professorship in Economics |
| 1976 |
Publication of
The Joyless Economy: an Inquiry into Human
Satisfaction and Consumer Dissatisfaction
Retired from Stanford University
Accepted appointment at London School of Economics
Accepted appointment at UC Santa Cruz
|
| 1992 |
Release of revised edition of
Joyless Economy
Joyless Economy named one of the
100 most influential books by
London Times Literary Supplement
|
| 1999 | Publication of first part of his memoir, in Hungarian Quarterly, Vol. 40 |
| 2002 June 1 | Died, Palo Alto, Calif. |
Collection Overview
The papers of Tibor Scitovsky, Hungarian-born economist, date from
1925-2002, with the majority of the materials dating from the 1970s through
2002, and are composed of three major series: Correspondence, Financial and
Personal Materials Series; Writings and Speeches; and Printed Materials.
The Correspondence, Financial and Personal
Materials Series consists primarily of routine professional
correspondence to Scitovsky from academic institutions, publishers, colleagues,
and friends. Many concern publications or invitations to events. There are a
number of brief but interesting exchanges with other economists, including
Moses Abramovitz of Stanford,
Benjamin M. Friedman of Harvard,
Paul Samuelson of MIT,
Stanley K. Sheinbaum of Stanford, and
Robert Solow, also at MIT.
The Writings and Speeches Series highlights
materials on selected writings and themes that Scitovsky worked on in later
years, from the 1980s to 2002, and includes clippings, drafts, articles, and
numerous notes. Major academic works represented in this series include
The Joyless Economy and articles on
market economies,
inflation,
growth and stagnation,
consumer satisfaction (and dissatisfaction),
marketing,
affluence, and
violence and
boredom as social ills. Many of his other major works
and earlier research are not represented by these research materials. A series
of photographs of Scitovky's family and home serve as companions to his
unpublished
memoirs, which detail life in northern
Hungary for a family of nobility, as well as
historical events in
Hungary,
France, and
England, particularly before and during World War
II. The memoirs also offer a detailed narrative of Scivovsky's emigration from
Hungary to the United States in the 1940s, as well as an account of the student
protests in Paris in the 1960s.
The Printed Materials Series contains many
of Scitovsky's reprinted articles and may prove to be the most useful series
for researchers interested in his works.
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Subject Headings
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a
search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will
bring up other related research materials.
- Scitovsky, Tibor.
- Scitovsky family.
- Friedman, Benjamin M.
- Samuelson, Paul Anthony, 1915-
- Solow, Robert M.
- Sheinbaum, Stanley K.
- Scitovsky, Tibor. The Joyless Economy.
- Consumer satisfaction.
- Capitalism.
- Economic development.
- Wealth.
- Stagnation (Economies).
- Violence--Social aspects.
- Boredom.
- Motivation research (Marketing).
- Student movements--France--Paris--History--20th century.
- Political refugees--Hungary--History--World War, 1939-1945.
- Hungary--History--1918-1945.
- Economists--United States--Correspondence.
- France--History--1958-
- England--History--World War, 1939-1945.
- United States--History--World War, 1939-1945.
Detailed Description of Collection
Correspondence, Financial and Personal Materials Series, 1939-2002 and undated, bulk 1997-2001
Correspondence,
1939-1948,1956,1997-2002 (10 folders)
Consists primarily of routine professional correspondence to
Scitovsky from academic institutions, publishers, colleagues, and friends. Many
concern publications or invitations to events. There are several brief but
interesting exchanges with other economists, including
Benjamin M. Friedman of Harvard,
Moses Abramovitzof Stanford,
Stanley Sheinbaum of Stanford,
Robert Solow and
Paul Samuelson of MIT,
Louise Keely of Oxford, and
H. W. Arndt, a specialist in
economic development in the Pacific region;
topics range from publications, economics issues, to wartime history and
political events in the United States and Europe. There are also several short
memoirs on life in New York City in the 1930s, and essays on
financial capitalism, written and collected by
Sheinbaum. Only in a handful of cases are
the letters from Scitovsky himself. Included in this series is a set of undated
correspondence on
boredom, one of his later research topics, but
other than that, his writings and research topics are rarely referenced in the
correspondence; this information is best documented in the printed materials.
Arranged in chronological order by year.
Box 1
Financial materials, 1998-2001
(1 folder)
Financial materials include only four items consisting of
royalty statements, subscription notices, and accounting services. Arranged in
chronological order.
Box 1
Personal materials, 1997 and undated
(1 folder)
Personal materials include Scitovsky's curriculum vitae,
photocopied obituaries and articles on various topics, programs, and
bibliographies. Arranged in original order as received.
Writings and Speeches Series, 1925-2000 and undated, bulk 1973-2000
(13 folders)
The first group of files represents Scitovsky's last work on violence
and its connection to social boredom. Other folders contain drafts, lectures,
clippings, articles, and notes for earlier research topics: consumer and human
satisfaction; the
United States economy and social conditions;
market economies; the problems of affluence; growth and stagnation; and
inflation. Another grouping contains notes, drafts, and photographs that
contributed to his memoirs, published in part under the title
"A Proud Hungarian."
The bulk of
the materials represent Scitovsky's research dating from the 1980s until 2000:
earlier works are best represented in their final published form in the Printed
Materials Series. Materials within subgroupings are arranged in original order as received.
Box 2
Boredom and Violence
Clippings,
1995-2000
Correspondence and articles,
2000 and
undated
Drafts,
circa 1990s
"Income and Happiness,"
1975-1976
Inflation - draft and articles,
1981 and
undated
Joyless Economy, critical review,
1996
Lectures and articles,
1940, 1984 and
undated
Lectures and articles,
undated
Memoirs - clippings, notes,
1973-1995 and
undated
Draft,
circa 1995
Final draft,
circa 1995
Photographic materials,
1925-1994 and
undated
"What Ails the United States of
America"
- notes, drafts, 1989-1995 and
undated
Box 1
Printed materials, 1941-2000
(5 folders)
Houses a selection of reprints of Scitovsky's articles. In the
early years, his research focused on economic theory, international finance and
monopoly and competition. He progressed to prices under monopoly and
competition, the theory of balance of payments adjustment, and economic
welfare. Later writings analyzed growth in an affluent society, the U.S.
savings rate, the welfare of nations, and the benefits of asymmetric markets.
In the years before his death, Scitovsky's focus shifted to violence, and in
particular, boredom as the cause of violence. He referred to boredom as an
"overlooked disease." Arranged in chronological order by year.
