MenuInventory of the Tibor Scitovsky Papers, 1925-2002 and undated, bulk 1973-2002
Abstract
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.
Descriptive Summary
- Repository
- David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
- Creator
- Scitovsky, Tibor
- Title
- Tibor Scitovsky Papers, 1925-2002 and undated, bulk 1973-2002
- Language of Material
- English
- Extent
- 1.2 Linear Feet, 800 Items
- Location
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
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 A series of photographs of Scitovky's family and home serve as companions to his unpublished memoirs, which detail life in northern Hungary for a family of nobility, as well as historical events in Hungary, France, and England, particularly before and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.
Administrative Information
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Access Restrictions
Collection 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 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
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 David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Contents of the Collection
Browse List of Series
Collapse All
Expand AllConsists 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.
Financial materials include only four items consisting of royalty statements, subscription notices, and accounting services. Arranged in chronological order.
Personal materials include Scitovsky's curriculum vitae, photocopied obituaries and articles on various topics, programs, and bibliographies. Arranged in original order as received.
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.
Printed Materials Series, 1941-2000
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.
Historical Note
| Date | Event(s) |
|---|---|
| 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. |
Subject Headings
- 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Tibor Scitovsky Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Provenance
The Tibor Scitovsky Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript 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.