Harvey Leibenstein - Biography

Harvey Leibenstein (1922 – 1994) was a Ukrainian born American economist. One of his most important contributions to economics was the concept of X-efficiency.

In economics, x-efficiency is the effectiveness with which a given set of inputs are used to produce outputs. If a firm is producing the maximum output it can, given the resources it employs, such as men and machinery, and the best technology available, it is said to be technical-efficient. x-inefficiency occurs when technical-efficiency is not achieved. The concept of x-efficiency was introduced by Harvey Leibenstein in his paper Allocative efficiency v. "x-efficiency" in American Economic Review 1966.

The concept of x-efficiency is also used in the theory of bureaucracy.

Important works

• 1950, "Bandwagon, Snob and Veblen Effects in the Theory of Consumer Demand." Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol.64 No.2 : Page 183-207
• 1966, Allocative efficiency v. "x-efficiency" in American Economic Review
• 1968, Entrepreneurship and Development. American Economic Review 58(2):72–83
• 1976, Beyond Economic Man, Cambridge: Harvard: University Press
• 1978, General X-Efficiency Theory and Economic Development, New York: Oxford University Press
• 1978, "X-Inefficiency Xists-Reply to an Xorcist," American Econ. Review, 68 (1978): 208
• 1979, "A Branch of Economics Is Missing: Micro-Micro Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, 17: 477-502
• 1979, “The General X-Efficiency Paradigm and the Role of the Entrepreneur”. in: Mario Rizzo (ed.), Time, Uncertainty, and Disequilibrium. Lexington: Heath 1979, 127-139
• 1982, “The Prisoners’s Dilemma in the Invisible Hand: An Analysis of Intrafirm Productivity.” American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings) 72, no. 2 (May): 92–7
• 1983, "Property Rights and X-Efficiency: Comment." American Economic Review 83: 831-42.

All Papers available on http://www.jstor.com

External Link

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/03/obituaries/harvey-leibenstein-harvard-professor-71.html