Marc Leon Nerlove (October 12, 1933 – July 10, 2024) was an American
agricultural economist and
econometrician
Econometrics is an application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics", '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8� ...
and a distinguished university professor emeritus in agricultural and resource economics at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
. He was awarded the
John Bates Clark Medal
The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge." The award is named after the ...
from the
American Economic Association
The American Economic Association (AEA) is a learned society in the field of economics, with approximately 23,000 members. It publishes several peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Review, an ...
(AEA) in 1969 and held appointments at eight different universities from 1958 to 2016. The Clark Medal is awarded to an economist under the age of 40 who “is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge”, and when the AEA appointed him as a distinguished fellow in 2012, they cited his development of widely used econometric methods across a range of subjects, including
supply and demand
In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris_paribus#Applications, holding all else equal, the unit price for a particular Good (economics), good ...
,
time series
In mathematics, a time series is a series of data points indexed (or listed or graphed) in time order. Most commonly, a time series is a sequence taken at successive equally spaced points in time. Thus it is a sequence of discrete-time data. ...
analysis,
production function
In economics, a production function gives the technological relation between quantities of physical inputs and quantities of output of goods. The production function is one of the key concepts of mainstream economics, mainstream neoclassical econ ...
s,
panel analysis
Panel (data) analysis is a statistical method, widely used in social science, epidemiology, and econometrics to analyze two-dimensional (typically cross sectional and longitudinal) panel data. The data are usually collected over time and over the s ...
, and family
demography
Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration.
Demographic analysis examine ...
.
A widely known contribution by Nerlove in econometrics is the estimator for the random effects model in panel data analysis, which is implemented in most econometric software packages.
Personal life
Marc Leon Nerlove was born on October 12, 1933, in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, to Dr. S. H. (Samuel Henry; 1902–1972) and Evelyn (1907–1987) Nerlove. S. H. Nerlove was born in
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...
, Russia (now
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
) and brought to the US by his parents in 1904 and became a professor of business economics at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
(c. 1922–1965) then the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
(1962–1969). Evelyn Nerlove was born in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
and worked at the University of Chicago hospital and taught in the
School of Social Service Administration until a university nepotism policy forced her to resign after their marriage in 1932 (although she “returned to her profession” in the 1950s).
S. H. and Evelyn Nerlove had two other children: Harriet Nerlove (c. 1937–2019), who became a clinical psychologist at Stanford University then in New York City, and Sara “Sally” Nerlove (born c. 1942), who became an anthropologist before spending most of her working life as a program officer at the
National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
(NSF).
Nerlove credited his father with his interest in economics. In addition to being a business economist at Chicago and an early member of the
Econometric Society
The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools in the practice of econometrics. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians o ...
, S. H. Nerlove “inadvertently” became the trustee of Security Life Insurance Company of America Trust (a large, bankrupt midwestern life insurance company) in 1933 during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. This company “held mostly foreclosed farm mortgages,” with the farms now being “operated by their former owners as tenants”.
S. H. would share stories around the dinner table of his visits to these farms, since the family did not have one of their own in
Hyde Park.
Nerlove married Mary Ellen Lieberman (died 2011) in the 1950s and they had two daughters, Susan Nerlove (born c. 1958) and Miriam Nerlove (born c. 1960). Miriam Nerlove become an author and illustrator of children's books, including ''Who Is David'' with Evelyn Nerlove in 1985. Marc and Mary Ellen Nerlove divorced in the 1970s, then he married Dr. Anke Meyer (born 1955), a German environmental economist who spent 23 years at the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
(1991–2014) and collaborated with him on some of his writings during this time.
Nerlove died on July 10, 2024, at the age of 90.
Education
Nerlove attended the
University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (also known as Lab, Lab Schools, or U-High, abbreviated UCLS) is a private, co-educational, day pre-school and K-12 school affiliated with the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Almost half ...
from 1939 to 1949, earned a BA with honors in mathematics and general honors in 1952, and was a research assistant at the
Cowles Commission for Research in Economics
The Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics is an economic research institute at Yale University.
History
It was created as the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics at Colorado Springs in 1932 by businessman and economist Alfred Cow ...
in 1953. He then earned a MA in 1955 and a PhD in economics with distinction in 1956 from the
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
(JHU), where his dissertation was supervised by
Carl Christ. Nerlove's other teachers included
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and ...
,
Theodore Schultz,
Ta-Chung Liu,
Fritz Machlup
Fritz Machlup (; ; born Friedrich Eduard Machlup; December 15, 1902 – January 30, 1983) was an Austrian-American economist known for his work in information economics. He was President of the International Economic Association from 1971 to 19 ...
, and
Jacob Marschak
Jacob Marschak (23 July 1898 – 27 July 1977) was an American economist.
Life
Born in a Jewish family of Kyiv, Jacob Marschak (until 1933 ''Jakob'') was the son of a jeweler. During his studies, he joined the social democratic Menshevik P ...
.
Nerlove's MA thesis is ''The Predictive Test as a Tool for Research: The Demand for Meat in the United States'' and his PhD dissertation is ''Estimates of the Elasticities of Supply of Corn, Cotton, and Wheat'', which was expanded and published in 1958 as ''The Dynamics of Supply: Estimation of Farmers' Response to Price''.
Teaching
Nerlove's teaching career began in 1958 as a visiting lecturer then lecturer at JHU before being appointed to his first professorship in 1959 at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
. From there, he made stops at
Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
(1960–1965),
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
(1965–1969), the University of Chicago (1969–1975),
Northwestern University
Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
(1974–1982), and the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
(1982–1993) before retiring from the University of Maryland (1993–2016). He also held many visiting appointments, including at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
(1967–1968), four universities and research centers in Germany (
University of Mannheim
The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public university, public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Aca ...
(1968),
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...
(1989),
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (1997), and
IZA Institute of Labor Economics (2002)), the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
(1971),
Fundação Getulio Vargas in Brazil (1974–1978), and
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
(1982).
Other employment
Nerlove's employment history also includes federal service. First, as an Analytical Statistician in the
Agricultural Marketing Service
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture; it maintains programs in five commodity areas: cotton and tobacco; dairy; fruit and vegetable; livestock and seed; and poultry. These programs ...
at the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...
(1956–1957), then, as a Lieutenant in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
(1957–1959); he was drafted in 1957 then on loan from the
Chemical Corps to the (US) Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly in 1958 as an economist at the request of Chairman
Estes Kefauver. In addition, Nerlove consulted for the
RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
(1959–1989),
Southern Pacific Company (1961), (US) President's Committee to Appraise Employment and Unemployment Statistics (1962), World Bank (1979–1985), and
International Food Policy Research Institute (1981–1986).
Professional service
Nerlove's history of professional service includes the Econometric Society (President, 1981), American Economic Association (executive committee, 1977–1979),
American Statistical Association (advisory committees to the
Bureau of the Census
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, 1964–1969, and
Civil Aeronautics Board
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1940 from a split of the Civil Aeronautics Authority and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services (including scheduled passe ...
, 1966–1968),
International Economic Association (chair, Econometrics Section, 1989),
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
(National Research Council Committee on Social Sciences in the NSFn, 1975–1976), NSF (proposal reviewer, 1960–1974), and
Social Sciences Research Council (Director, Mathematical Social Science Board Summer Workshop on Lags in Economic Behavior, 1970).
Awards and honors
Nerlove's awards include the John Bates Clark Medal (1969), a
Fulbright Research Grant (1962–1963), and two
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
s (1962–1963; 1978–1979), and he was a distinguished fellow of the
American Agricultural Economics Association (1993)
and American Economic Association (2012).
Selected publications
Articles
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Books
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nerlove, Marc
1933 births
2024 deaths
Economists from Illinois
Time series econometricians
University of Maryland, College Park faculty
Presidents of the Econometric Society
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the Econometric Society
Fellows of the American Statistical Association
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Distinguished fellows of the American Economic Association
Fellows of the Earhart Foundation