Leontief, Wassily << lee AWNT yuhf, vah SIHL ee >> (1906-1999), an American economist, won the 1973 Nobel Prize in economics for the development of input-output analysis. Input-output analysis is a method used to forecast the effect of a change in one segment of a nation’s economy on another.
Leontief developed a table that breaks the economy down into various industries. Each industry consists of many firms producing similar commodities. The table shows each industry’s total output (production) and the amount of its inputs, such as purchases from other domestic industries, imports, and labor. The output of one industry may be an input of another. For example, a decrease in production by the steel industry could result in a shortage of steel in the automobile industry. Economists in many countries use input-output analysis to recommend national policy.
Leontief was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin. Leontief taught at Harvard University from 1931 to 1975, when he joined New York University’s faculty. He became a U.S. citizen in 1939.
