September, 1998
CURRICULUM VITAE
Gur Ofer

Born: Jerusalem, September 23, 1934.
Military service: 1953-1955; Member, Kibbutz Ha’on, 1955-1959.
Married to Dalia; four daughters.
Home: 16 Mishol Hakitron, Jerusalem, Israel
Tel: 972-2-5865889, 5870967 (also fax)

Offices:
Dept. of Economics New Economic School
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Nahkimovsky Prospekt 47
Mt. Scopus, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel 117418 Moscow, Russia
Tel: 972-2-5883238 Tel.: 7-095-1293844
Fax: 972-2-5816071 Fax: 7-095-1293722
E-mail: msgur@mscc.huji.ac.il  

B.A. and M.A.      1959-1964, History and Economics, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Ph.D.                 Economics, Harvard University, 1964-1968
                        Thesis: The Service Industries in the USSR

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  •  Harvey M. and Lyn P. Meyerhoff Professor of Soviet Economics, Departments of Economics and of Russian Studies, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • Coordinator, the International Advisory Board, the New Economic School, Moscow.
  • Head, The Feher Institute of Public Policy, the Hebrew University Branch.
  • Head, the Israel National Institute for Health Policy and Health Services Research.
  • President, The Israeli Economic Association
  • Past:


    PUBLICATIONS

    Books

    1967. The Service Industries in a Developed Economy: Israel as a Case Study. F.A. Praeger Publishers, N.Y. (in cooperation with the Bank of Israel).

    1973. The Service Sector in Soviet Economic Growth: A Comparative Study. Harvard University Press (in Harvard Economic Studies, jointly with the Russian Research Center Series).

    1992. The Soviet Household Under the Old Regime: Economic Conditions and Behavior in the 1970s. (With Aaron Vinokur). Cambridge University Press.

    1992. Trials of Transition: Economic Reform in the Farmer Communist Bloc. (Edited with Michael Keren). Westview Press.

    1995. Reforming Planned Economies in a an Integrating World Economy. (With Barry Bosworth). The Brookings Institution Washington D.C.

    1997. Governments and Health System: Implications of Differing Involvements (Co-Editor, edited by David Chinitz and Joshua Cohen, and others). John Wiley & Sons Ltd. (Forthcoming, 1998).
     
     

    Articles 1973. “The Economic Burden of Soviet Involvement in the Middle East.” In M. Confine and S. Chamber (eds.), The USSR and the Middle East. Jerusalem, Israel Universities Press, pp. 215-246.

    1973. A revision of the above was published in Soviet Studies, Volume XIV, pp. 321-347. January.

    1973. “Returns to Scale in Retail Trade.” Review of Income and Wealth, Volume 19, No. 4, pp. 363-384. December.

    1975. “The Opportunity Costs of Non Monetary Advantages of the Military Research and Development Efforts in the Soviet Union.” RAND Report R-1741. August.

    1976. “Food Shopping Habits in Israel.” In N. Halevi and J. Cap (eds.), Issues in the Economy of Israel. The Falk Institute, pp. 185-206.

    1976. “Industrial Structure, Urbanization and Growth Strategy of Socialist Countries.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. X., pp. 219-244. May.

    1976. “Soviet Military Aid to the Middle East: An Economic Balance Sheet.” In John Hard (ed.), Soviet Economy in a New Perspective. U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, pp. 216-239. September.

    1977. “Economizing on Urbanization in Socialist Countries: Historical Necessity or Socialist Strategy.” In Alan Brown and Econ Neuberger, Internal Migration: A Comparative Perspective. Academic Press.

    1978. “The Industrial Structure of Israel and its Development, 1961-1974: As Compared with Normal Development Patterns,” (Hebrew). In N. Halevi and Y. Kop (eds.), Studies in the Economy of Israel. 1976. The Falk Institute, pp. 19-35. (An English version presented in a Conference on the Service Sector and Economic Development, Puerto Rico, June 1978.)

    1979. “Economic Aspects of the Soviet Involvement in the Middle East.” In Yaacov Roi (ed.), The Limits of Power. Crook-Helm, London.

    1979. “Family Budget Survey of Soviet Emigrants in the Soviet Union.” (With Aaron Vinokur and Acyl Bar-Chain). Research Paper No. 32, The Soviet and East European Research Center, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 1979; An updated version, The RAND Corporation (P-6015).

    1979. “Family Income Levels for Soviet Industrial Workers, 1965-1975.” (With Aaron Vinokur). In A. Kahn and B. A. Ruble (eds.), Industrial Labor in the USSR. New York, Pergamon Press, pp. 184-208.

    1980. “Industrial Structure Urbanization and Socialist Growth Strategy: An Historical Analysis, 1940-1967.” In Steven Rosefield (ed.), World Communism in Transition. Boston, Martinus Nighoff Publishings.

    1980. “Trade Structure and Industrial Structure in Socialist Countries: A Case for Specialization in Agricultural Goods.” In Paul Marer and J. M. Montias (eds.), East European Integration and East-West Trade. Indiana University Press.

    1980. “Soviet Household Saving: A Cross-Section Study of Soviet Emigrant Families.” (With Joyce Pickersgill). In Quarterly Journal of Economics. Vol. 95: No. 1 (August), pp. 121-145. (Earlier draft was issued by The RAND Corporation (P-6132), (1978).

    1980. “Private Sources of Income of the Soviet Urban Household.” (With Aaron Vinokur). (R-2359-NA), The RAND Corporation. August.

    1980. “The Distribution of Income of the Soviet Urban Population.” (With Aaron Vinokur). Presented at The Second World Congress of the Association of Soviet and East-European Studies, Garmisch. October.

    1980. “Economic Absorption and Contribution of Soviet Immigrants in Israel.” (With Aaron Vinokur and Yechiel Bar-Chaim; Hebrew). Israel: The Falk Institute for Economic Research.

    1980. “The Relative Efficiency of Military Research and Development in the Soviet Union: A System Approach.” The RAND Corporation (R-2522-AF).

    1981. “Earning Differentials Between Men and Women in the Soviet Union: A First Look.” (With Aaron Vinokur). In S. Rosefield (ed.), Economic Welfare and the Economics of Soviet Socialism: Essays in Honor of Abram Bergson. Cambridge, University Press, pp. 127-162.

    1981. “Israel’s Economy: Diagnosis and Cure.” The Jerusalem Quarterly. No. 20, pp. 3-16. Summer.

    1981. “Standard of Living of Soviet Immigrants in Israel.” (Interim Report), (With Aaron Vinokur). The Falk Institute. July (Hebrew).

    1982. “Absorption in Work of Soviet Immigrants in Israel.” (With Aaron Vinokur). Jerusalem, Israel: The Falk Institute (Hebrew).

    1982. “Wages and Occupations of Soviet Emigrants in Israel.” (With Aaron Vinokur). (Interim Report). Jerusalem: The Falk Institute (Hebrew).

    1983. “The Labor Force Participation of Married Women in the Soviet Union, A Household Cross-Section Analysis.” Journal of Comparative Economics. July.

    1984. “Economics of the Soviet Urban Household in the 1970s: Report on an Income Survey of Soviet Emigrants.” (With Aaron Vinokur). Report to the National Council for Soviet and East European Research. July.

    1985. “Work and Family of Soviet Women: Historical Trends and Cross Section Analysis.” (With Aaron Vinokur). J. Labor Economics.pp. S328-S354. January.

    1986. “Public Spending on Civilian Services.” In Y. Ben-Porath (ed.), The Israeli Economy: Maturing through Crises. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press, pp. 192-208. (A report in Hebrew under the same name, but more detailed, was published by the Falk Institute, September 1983.)

    1986. “National Expenditures on Education and Health.” In Y. Kop (ed.), Change in Social Policy: Israel 1985-86. Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, pp. 111-134. April.

    1987. “Absorption and Economic Contribution of Immigrants from the Soviet Union.” (With Aaron Vinokur and Yechiel Bar-Chaim). In D. Schwartz (ed.), Studies in Absorption. Stockholm (1987). (Also The Falk Institute, 1980; Hebrew).

    1987. “National Expenditures on Social Services.” In Y. Kop (ed.), Allocation to Social Services 1986-87. Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. July.

    1987. “Health Services at a Time of Economic Crisis.” (With others). In Y. Kop (ed.), Allocation to Social Services 1986-87. Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. July.

    1987. “Soviet Economic Growth: 1928-1985: A Survey Article.” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XXV. pp. 1767-1833. December.

    1987. “Inequality of Earnings, Household Income and Wealth in the Soviet Union in the 70’s.” (With Aaron Vinokur). In J. Millar (ed.), Politics, Work and Daily Life in the U.S.S.R: A Survey of Former Soviet Citizens. Cambridge University Press, pp. 171-202.

    1987. “Economic Aspects of the Modernization of Russia and China.” In S. N. Eisenstadt (ed.), Patterns of Modernity, Volume 2: Beyond the West. Francis Pinter, London, pp. 37-64.

    1988. “The Distributive Effects of the Social Consumption Fund in the Soviet Union.” (With Aaron Vinokur). In G. Lapidus and G. Swanson (eds.), State and Welfare, USA/USSR. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 251-277.

    1988. “The Economic Dimension ¾ The Soviet Union.” (With Joseph Pelzman). In S. Spiegal, M. Heller and J. Goldberg (eds.), The Soviet American Competition in the Middle-East. Lexington Books, MA, pp. 221-238.

    1988. “Poverty in the Soviet Union.” (With Aaron Vinokur). Presented at the AAASS Annual Conference, Honolulu. October, (mimeo).

    1988. “Hospital Reimbursement in Israel.” (Hebrew) Economic Quarterly, Special Issue, December).

    1988. “The National and Public Expenditure on Health Services in Israel.” In Y. Kop (ed.), Allocation to Social Services 1988/9. Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel.

    1992. “Productivity, Competitiveness and the Socialist System.” In Bert Hickman (ed.), International Productivity and Competitiveness. Oxford University Press, Ch. 5, pp. 97-133.

    1989. “Soviet-Third World Economic Relations: A new Era.” (With Joseph Pelzman). Paper presented at a conference on “Soviet Involvement in the Middle East: A New Era” sponsored by the Mayrock Center for Soviet and East European Research, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. January.

    1990. “The Future of Economic Reform.” In Walter Laquer et al., Soviet Union 2000: Reform or Revolution?, Chapter 3. St. Martin’s Press, pp. 83-120.

    1989. “Budget Deficit, Market Disequilibrium and Soviet Economic Reforms.” Soviet Economy, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 107-161. April-June. Also Published in: Edward A. Hewett and Victor H. Winston (eds.), Milestones in Glasnost and Perestroika: The Economy, The Brookings Institution, Washington D.C., pp. 268-307.

    1989. “The Relative Income Level of the Elderly Population in Israel.” (with Yaacov Kop). Presented at a conference on Public Finance and Welfare in Israel, Beer Sheva University, Israel. May 29-30.

    1989. “Reforms in the Socialist System: The Convergence Hypothesis Revisited.” Paper presented at the 21st National Convention of the AAASS, Palmer House, Chicago. November 2-5.

    1989. “The Welfare State of Soviet Economic Reform: Also Converging?” Paper presented at the AEA meetings, Atlanta. December.

    1989. “The Absorption and Economic Contribution of Immigrants from the Soviet Union in Israel.” (With Aaron Vinokur). In Tamar Horowitz (ed.), The Soviet Man in an Open Society. University Press of America, pp. 67-91.

    1990. “The Service Sector in Soviet Economic Reforms: Does Convergence Finely Arrive?” Paper presented at the IV World Congress for Soviet and East European Studies, Harrogate. July 21-26.

    1990. “Macroeconomic Issues of Soviet Reforms.” NBER, Macroeconomic Annual 1990, pp. 297-333.

    1991. “The Distribution Sector in Soviet Economic Reforms.” In IMF, IBRD, OECD, EBRD: A Study of the Soviet Economy, Vol. 3, pp. 31-54.

    1992. “Soviet American Cooperation and the Future of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.” (With Galia Golan). In Steven L. Spiegel (ed.), Conflict Management in the Middle East. Westview Press, pp. 409-426.

    1991. “Soviet Military and Economic Aid to the Middle East and Africa.” (With Joseph Pelzman). Final scientific report to the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF 85-00264-I).

    1992. “Stabilizing and Restructuring in the Former Soviet Economy: Big Bang or Gradual Sequencing?” In Keren Michael and Gur Ofer, eds, Trials of Transition: Economic Reform in the Former Communist Bloc. Westview Press.

    1991. “Absorption in Work of Soviet Immigrants to Israel in the 1990s: Aspects of Preservation of Original Occupations.” (With Karnit Flug and Nitsa Kassir). Published by The Bank of Israel, Research Papers, No. 91.05, and 92.13 (Hebrew and English). Also in Economic Quarterly, No. 148, April.

    1992. “Fiscal Developments and Economic Reforms in the Soviet Union: 1991.” Public Finance (Public Finance in a World of Transition) (Pierre Pestiau editor), Supplement to Vol. 47 pp. 318-334.

    1992. “Services as a Major Source of Growth in Russia and Other Former Soviet States.” (With Martha de Melo and William Easterly). The world Bank, policy research working paper 1292 (April 1994). In Mario Blejer (ed.), Economic Reform in Russia: The Early record, International; Center for Economic Growth, San Francisco Forthcoming, 1995.

    1993. “Macroeconomic Stabilization and Structural Change: Orthodox, Heterodox, or Otherwise?” In: Abel Aganbegyan, Oleg Bogomolov and Michael Kaser (eds.), Economics in a Changing World: Vol 1 System Transformation: Eastern and Western Assessment. St. Martin’s Press in association with the IEA, 1994. pp. 87-114. A version in Russian appeared in Ekonomika i Matematicheskie Metody, Vol. 29, No 4 pp. 548-563.

    1994. “Private Service Firms in a Transitional Economy: Finding of a survey in St. Petersburg” (with Martha de Melo), Studies in Economics of Transition, No. 11, The World Bank, Washington D.C.

    1995. “Pioneers for Profit: St Petersburg Entrepreneurs in Services” (with Martha de Melo and Olga Sandler), The World Bank Economic Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 425-450.

    1994. “The Global Economy and Social Change at the Turn of the Century: The Interaction Between Economic Growth and Poverty.” Paper presented at WELFARE ‘94 The 26th International Conference of ICSW, July 3-7, 1994, Tampere, Finland.

    1996. “Health Sector Reform in Russia: The Heritage and the Private/Public Mix” (with Dov Chernihovsky and Elena Potapchik). Moct-Most. Vol.6, No. 3, pp. 125-152.
     
     

    1. “Decelerating Economic Growth Under Socialism: The Soviet Case.” in Ramon Myers (ed.), The Wealth of Nations in the Twentieth Century: The Policies and Institutional Determinants of Economic Development. pp. 80-109. Hoover Institution Press.
    1998. “Hospitalization and Hospital Reimbursement in Israel”. Paper presented at the International Conference on Governments and Health Care Systems, Jerusalem, Israel. In Governments and Health System: Implications of Differing Involvements (Co-Editor, edited by David Chinitz and Joshua Cohen and others). John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

    1998. “New Trends in the Welfare State: The Public\Private Mix”. pp. 65 (Hebrew, Kahanoff Foundation, mimeo). Part of an updated version of the paper was presented as the presidential address, at the annual meetings of the Israeli Economic association, May 21, 1988, Jerusalem.

    1997. “Trade, Trade Policy and Foreign Exchange Runder Transition: The Case of the Russian Federation”, with Vladimir Drebentsov. Paper presented at the 3rd Dubrovnik Conference, June 1997 (to be published).

    1998. “Bringing the Government Hospitals into line: The Next Step of Reform in the Healthcare Sector”,with Ilana Grau. Economic Quarterly, 1997, no. 4 (December) pp. 521-56. (Hebrew); (Koret Foundation Project paper (English) mimeo, 1997.

    Miscellaneous:

    1972. McKay, John. Pioneers for Profit. (Book review). Journal of Modern History

    1972. “The Soviet Economy.” Encyclopaedia Hebraica, Vol. 22. pp. 670-683 (Hebrew).

    1972. “Nobel Laureate in Economics, 1971: Simon Kuznets.” Israel Quarterly of Economics (English), Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 41-47. Summer.

    1983. McAuley, Alistair. Economic Welfare in the Soviet Union. (Book review). Soviet Studies.

    1984. Amann, Ronald and Julian Cooper. Industrial Innovation in the Soviet Union. (Book review). Journal of Economic Literature. March.

    1987. Skurski, Roger. Soviet Marketing and Economic Development. (Book review). Journal of Comparative Economics, Vol. 11, No. 2., pp. 151-156. June.

    1989. Kantorovich, Vladimir. “Transportation and Soviet Economic Growth in the 1980s.” A Discussion of a paper carrying the above title. Presented at a conference in honor of Holland Hunter, Haverford College, March. 1992.”The Service Sector in the Soviet Union.” In Eastern Europe and the USSR. Europa Publications Ltd., London.

    1992. “The Impact of the Revolution in Eastern Europe on ‘Europe 1993’.” Paper presented at a conference on “Europe 1993.” Tel-Aviv, March.

    1994. Wage Inequalities in East and West. By Dominique Redor. Cambridge, England, Cambridge University Press, 1992. Pp. xiii, 216. a book review: Journal of Economic Literature, 1995.

    1994. “Notes to Discussion on a Paper: “Professional Economic Education Standard and its implementation” by Andrei Markov, Andrei Poletayev and others, at the Conference on: The Present and Future of Economic Education in Russia, Moscow State University, April.