Petter Jakob Bjerve (27 September 1913 – 12 January 2004) was a Norwegian economist, statistician and politician for the Labour Party. Prominent positions include director of

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

from 1949 to 1980, Norwegian Minister of Finance from 1960 to 1963, and president of the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. At a meeting of the Jubilee Meeting of the Royal Statistical Society, statisticians met and formed the agreed statues of the International Statistical ...

from 1971 to 1975.

Career

He was born in Stjørdal Municipality as a son of farmers Petter Jakob Bjerve, Sr. (1869–1928) and Kristine Arnstad (1870–1961). He married Rannveig Bremer, a daughter of Anders H. Bremer. Bjerve attended secondary school in

Orkdal Municipality Orkdal is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Orkland Municipality. It was part of the O ...

, and was active in Clarté before joining the Labour Party. He studied under

Ragnar Frisch Ragnar Anton Kittil Frisch (3 March 1895 – 31 January 1973) was an influential Norwegian economist and econometrician known for being one of the major contributors to establishing economics as a quantitative and statistically informed science ...

at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, and graduated with the cand.oecon. degree in 1941. He studied at The American University, Washington DC from 1938 to 1939 and again in the US with a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

grant from 1947 to 1949. At the University of Oslo he worked as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, research institute, or privately held organization to provide assistance in academic or private research endeavors. Research assistants work under ...

from 1939 to 1940, teacher from 1941 to 1943 and

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

from 1945 to 1949. He also held sporadic lectures between 1945 and 1960. He was also a visiting professor 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 ...

from 1954 to 1955. He was also a secretary in

from 1944 to 1945 and assistant secretary in the

Norwegian Ministry of Finance The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Finance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: Finansdepartementet) is a Norway, Norwegian Ministry (government department), ministry established in 1814. The ministry is responsible for state finance, including the state ...

. In 1949 he was hired as a director in Statistics Norway. He remained here until 1980. The exception was his period as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in Gerhardsen's Third Cabinet, from 23 April 1960 until his resignation on 4 February 1963. His doctorate thesis ''Planning in Norway 1947–1953'' was finished in 1959, and he defended his thesis for the dr.philos. degree in 1962 while serving as Minister of Finance. He was a prolific writer throughout his career. He was president of the

from 1971 to 1975, and honorary member from 1986. He was an honorary member of ''Statistiska Föreningen'' in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

from 1951, the Finnish Statistical Society from 1960, the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 27, 1839, and is the second-oldest continuous ...

from 1964 and the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

from 1967. In 1964 he was elected as a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The designation of ASA Fellow has been a sign ...

.View/Search Fellows of the ASA
accessed 2016-07-23. He was a board member of Norsk Regnesentral from 1958 to 1960, of Institutt for anvendt sosialvitenskapelig forskning from 1966 to 1981, of Statsøkonomisk Forening from 1950 to 1953, 1963 to 1967 and 1971 to 1974. He chaired Sosialistiske økonomers forening from 1965 to 1967 and the Chr. Michelsen Institute department of social sciences from 1982 to 1984. Bjerve was also an adviser for governments and banks of

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, partly with a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

connection. He also held other positions within the United Nations and

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

systems. He was also a board member of '' Riksskattestyret'' from 1959 to 1963, ''

Dag og Tid ''Dag og Tid'' () is a national weekly newspaper in Norway that uses the Nynorsk standard of the Norwegian language. ''Dag og Tid'' was founded in 1962. Contrary to most other Norwegian newspapers, its circulation has recently increased signific ...

'' from 1965 to 1967 and Ja til EF 1972, and chairman of Livstrygdelaget Andvake from 1979 to 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjerve, Petter Jakob 1913 births 2004 deaths People from Stjørdal University of Oslo alumni Academic staff of the University of Oslo Norwegian expatriates in the United States Norwegian economists Norwegian statisticians Directors of government agencies of Norway Ministers of finance of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians Presidents of the International Statistical Institute Norwegian Social Research people Fellows of the American Statistical Association