Bernhard Harms


Bernhard Harms was a German economist and one of the first professors to undertake research in the field of international economics. He founded the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Germany's leading economic research institute, in 1914. Harms was Chair of Economics at the University of Kiel and head of the Institute until he was dismissed from office in 1933 by Nazi Party officials.

Education

Christoph Bernhard Cornelius Harms was born in Detern, Ostfriesland, on June 30, 1876 to Menno F. Harms and Anna M. Ries. In 1887, he attended the Städtische Volksschule in Aurich, and later Gymnasium in Norden. From 1890 to 1893 he completed an apprenticeship as a bookbinder in Celle. Harms began a degree in political science at the University of Leipzig, then began a PhD in Economics at University of Tübingen. He completed his doctoral dissertation under Gustav von Schönberg, a founder of the theory of world economy. Two years later, he completed his habilitation.
Harms married in 1902 and had three children.
Harms began teaching as a professor at the University of Jena in 1906, then transferred to the University of Kiel in 1908 where he was Chair of Economics. There, he founded the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Founded on February 18, 1914, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy has been one of the leading economic research institutes in Germany. It began as the Königliches Institut für Seeverkehr and Weltwirtschaft an der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel. Over the years, Harms worked to build the university's name, attracting well established economists such as Jacob Marschak, Wassily Leontief, Adolph Löwe, Gerhard Colm, and Hans Philipp Neisser. The original mission of the Institute was to challenge the traditional scholar of nationally oriented political economy, and instead opting for a more international view on economic and political affairs.

Expulsion and death

After the electoral victory of the National Socialist German Workers Party in the March 1933 elections, Harms attempted to protect his Jewish colleagues from persecution. But on April 25, 1933, the Ministry of Culture enacted a new law, the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. Harms was subsequently removed from the university and later from the Institute. In 1933, Harms worked as an honorary professor in Berlin, then moved to the University of Marburg in 1934. He died in Berlin in 1939. His grave was placed in front of the original building of the Instituteon Düsternbrooker Weg in Kiel.

Legacy

Bernhard Harms Prize

Every two years since 1964, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy has awarded the Bernhard Harms Prize of €25,000 to individuals "with a distinguished record in the field of international economics." Award winners give presentations on their research at the Bernhard Harms Lectures at the Institute, which are then published in the Institute's journal, Review of World Economics / Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv.
YearWinnerInstitution
2018Carmen ReinhartHarvard University
2016Marc MelitzHarvard University
2014Abhijit BanerjeeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
2012Gene GrossmanPrinceton University
2010Raghuram RajanUniversity of Chicago
2008Kenneth RogoffHarvard University
2006Robert FeenstraUniversity of California
2004Maurice ObstfeldUniversity of California
2002Stanley FischerMassachusetts Institute of Technology
2000Jeffrey D. SachsHarvard University
1998Elhanan HelpmanHarvard University
1996Assar LindbeckInstitute for International Economic Studies
1994Martin FeldsteinHarvard University
1992Rudiger DornbuschMassachusetts Institute of Technology
1990Anne O. KruegerDuke University
1988Jagdish BhagwatiColumbia University
1986W. Max CordenAustralian National University
1984Bela BalassaJohns Hopkins University
1982William FellnerYale University
1980Erik LundbergStockholm School of Economics
1978Charles P. KindlebergerMassachusetts Institute of Technology
1976Harry G. JohnsonUniversity of Chicago
1974Fritz MachlupPrinceton University
1972Gottfried HaberlerHarvard University
1970Wassily LeontiefHarvard University
1968Hermann Josef AbsDeutsche Bank
1966Roy HarrodChrist Church, Oxford
1964Gerhard ColmWashington, D.C.

Bernhard Harms Medal

Since 1980, the Bernhard Harms Medal is awarded to individuals "who have contributed to the Kiel Institute's research on the world economy in the tradition of Bernhard Harms."
YearWinnerInstitution
2004Otmar IssingEuropean Central Bank
2004Helmut HesseUniversity of Göttingen
2000Reinhard MohnBertelsmann AG
2000Marcus BierichGesellschaft zur Förderung des Instituts für Weltwirtschaft
1999Václav KlausChamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
1995Herbert GrubelSimon Fraser University
1994Birgit BreuelTreuhandanstalt
1992Ingo WalterNew York University
1992Helmut SchlesingerDeutsche Bundesbank
1991Juergen B. DongesUniversity of Cologne
1989Tyll NeckerBundesverband der Deutschen Industrie
1989Karl SchillerJesteburg-Osterberg
1988Rudolf ScheidFrankfurt am Main
1986Gerhard FelsKiel Institute for the World Economy
1986Hans D. BarbierFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
1984Karl Gustaf RatjenKiel Institute for the World Economy
1984Wolfgang F. StolperUniversity of Michigan
1983George Frank RayUniversity of Greenwich
1983Tadeusz M. RybczynskiLazard
1981David GroveIBM, University of Washington
1980Kurt PentzlinBahlsen
1980Otto Ernst PfleidererHeidelberg University

Selected publications