Barbara Bergmann
Encyclopedia
Barbara Bergmann is a forerunner in feminist economics
with a passion for social policy
and equality
, especially relating to discrimination
on account of race or sex. Her work covers many topics from childcare
and women’s issues to poverty and Social Security
. For many years, Bergmann has been a recognized feminist economist and is a leading representative of progressive feminist economic ideas in many organizations around the world. She is a trustee of the Economists for Peace and Security. She is now a Professor Emerita of Economics at the University of Maryland
and American University
.
, and immigrated to the United States from Europe in 1914 and she was born in 1927 to a Romania
n-born mother and Polish
-born father in the Bronx. Her parents worked instead of finishing school, but they expected Barbara to adhere to the standards and traditions of American life and eventually go to college. At the age of five, she started formulating ideas about feminism
, pursuing equality for men and women, because she wanted to be an independent person when she grew up, and that required money and equality. During the Great Depression
, Bergmann developed a strong belief that the government should provide resources and help to individuals who faced uncontrollable circumstances or did not have the resources and knowledge to provide for themselves.
Bergmann received a scholarship
to Cornell University
and majored in mathematics. While in college pursuing her love for “creating models of simple processes that might or might not resemble what goes on in the actual economy,” she discovered Gunnar Myrdal
’s book An American Dilemma that told of the racial inequality in the South. Myrdal’s book ignited an interest in race discrimination that eventually developed into a concern for sex discrimination and followed Bergmann throughout her career.
After Barbara Bergmann graduated with a B.A. in 1948, the recession
, discrimination against Jews
, and workplace sex segregation
made it difficult to find a job that was interesting. Bergmann took a job with the federal government in the New York
Office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
where she fielded public inquiries; she was head of the inquiries unit after a year. A firsthand experience with the discrimination of a black employee at the Bureau of Labor Statistics illuminated how real and pervasive race discrimination was at the time. Harvey Purdy was the only black employee at the New York office and, when Barbara managed to get him promoted, he was demoted shortly after and the job was given to someone else.
Bergmann received her Ph.D. from Harvard University
(1959) and developed an interest in computer simulated economics, realizing that economics should be based more on observation and field research than solely theorizing. Research and experience has led Barbara Bergmann to develop theories and ideas about government policy, the implementation of observation into economics, and racial
and gender equality
.
and the Bureau of the Census. In addition to her government service, Bergmann was also involved in numerous national and international organizations that promote advancement and equality. She served as chair of the American Economic Association
Committee on the Status of Women in Economic Professions, and president of the Eastern Economic Association, the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, the American Association of University Professors
, and the International Organization for Feminist Economics
, but that can be corrected by appropriate government regulations, and by the generous government provision of important services and safety nets. But a lot of what is good and indispensable comes from capitalism too”
Bergmann studied microsimulation
at Harvard University with computer generated simulation that provided a model with equations of macro
variables
constructed on analogies of microeconomics
. She believes that microsimulation provides “rigor, realism, and an ability to incorporate complexity
s revealed by more empirical
investigations into the workings of business.” In a class with Professor Edward Chamberlin
at Harvard, Bergmann discovered that economic theory, regardless of its ingenuity or prevalence in the field, can actually produce a different picture of the economy than reality. It was in a market experiment in Chamberlin’s class that Bergmann started to believe that economic theory needed to be influenced by actual observation of individuals. One of her personal views of economics is “that true anecdotes may well contain more valuable information about the state of things in the world than do economists’ theories, which are by and large nothing but (possibly untrue) stories made up by economists sitting in their offices, with no factual input whatever”.
Bergmann’s work attests to the way that some economists allow political affiliation to affect their work and theories – economists sometimes produce theories and ideas that support their personal or political views. The lack of empirical evidence and observation also makes economics less of a hard science, and thus a social science, making it potentially more prone to biases from the social factors. Bergmann holds that observation and empirical evidence can lead to theories that actually reflect human behavior instead of producing theories on paper that do not always work in reality. She argues that macroeconomics
can fix many social problems and economic policy can be used to enhance the lives of individuals, but economists are too persuaded by political affiliation to work toward a common goal
– around there is an economic and social division of labor between men and women historically. Although there has been an influx of women into the labor market and men are performing a larger amount of household labor, there is still an economic division between men and women. Bergmann views the best and most feasible option for equality to be “high commodification” where many of the household tasks and childcare predominantly performed by women are outsourced
to organizations and individuals. “High commodification” would include government subsidies for childcare
and availability for stipend
s for married couples and single mothers. Bergmann believes that an increase in commodificaion alone cannot bring about equality, but there also needs to be “an end to discrimination in employment, highly competitive behavior by women, and extra resources from government for families who are raising children.” Bergmann has a passion for gender equality
and desires to see government provisions for equitable
treatment of women in the workforce
.
Feminist economics
Feminist economics broadly refers to a developing branch of economics that applies feminist lenses to economics. Research under this heading is often interdisciplinary or heterodox...
with a passion for social policy
Social policy
Social policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues...
and equality
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
, especially relating to discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
on account of race or sex. Her work covers many topics from childcare
Childcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...
and women’s issues to poverty and Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
. For many years, Bergmann has been a recognized feminist economist and is a leading representative of progressive feminist economic ideas in many organizations around the world. She is a trustee of the Economists for Peace and Security. She is now a Professor Emerita of Economics at the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
and American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
.
History
Barbara Bergmann’s parents and grandparents, fleeing anti-SemitismAnti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, and immigrated to the United States from Europe in 1914 and she was born in 1927 to a Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n-born mother and Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
-born father in the Bronx. Her parents worked instead of finishing school, but they expected Barbara to adhere to the standards and traditions of American life and eventually go to college. At the age of five, she started formulating ideas about feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, pursuing equality for men and women, because she wanted to be an independent person when she grew up, and that required money and equality. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Bergmann developed a strong belief that the government should provide resources and help to individuals who faced uncontrollable circumstances or did not have the resources and knowledge to provide for themselves.
Bergmann received a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
and majored in mathematics. While in college pursuing her love for “creating models of simple processes that might or might not resemble what goes on in the actual economy,” she discovered Gunnar Myrdal
Gunnar Myrdal
Karl Gunnar Myrdal was a Swedish Nobel Laureate economist, sociologist, and politician. In 1974, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Friedrich Hayek for "their pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the...
’s book An American Dilemma that told of the racial inequality in the South. Myrdal’s book ignited an interest in race discrimination that eventually developed into a concern for sex discrimination and followed Bergmann throughout her career.
After Barbara Bergmann graduated with a B.A. in 1948, the recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
, discrimination against Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, and workplace sex segregation
Sex segregation
Sex segregation is the separation of people according to their sex.The term gender apartheid also has been applied to segregation of people by gender, implying that it is sexual discrimination...
made it difficult to find a job that was interesting. Bergmann took a job with the federal government in the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and...
where she fielded public inquiries; she was head of the inquiries unit after a year. A firsthand experience with the discrimination of a black employee at the Bureau of Labor Statistics illuminated how real and pervasive race discrimination was at the time. Harvey Purdy was the only black employee at the New York office and, when Barbara managed to get him promoted, he was demoted shortly after and the job was given to someone else.
Bergmann received her Ph.D. from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
(1959) and developed an interest in computer simulated economics, realizing that economics should be based more on observation and field research than solely theorizing. Research and experience has led Barbara Bergmann to develop theories and ideas about government policy, the implementation of observation into economics, and racial
Racial equality
Racial equality means different things in different contexts. It mostly deals with an equal regard to all races.It can refer to a belief in biological equality of all human races....
and gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
.
Organizational Involvement
During the Kennedy administration Barbara Bergmann was a senior staff member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors and she was a Senior Economic Adviser with the Agency for International Development. She also served as an advisor to the Congressional Budget OfficeCongressional Budget Office
The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....
and the Bureau of the Census. In addition to her government service, Bergmann was also involved in numerous national and international organizations that promote advancement and equality. She served as chair of the American Economic Association
American Economic Association
The American Economic Association, or AEA, is a learned society in the field of economics, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It publishes one of the most prestigious academic journals in economics: the American Economic Review...
Committee on the Status of Women in Economic Professions, and president of the Eastern Economic Association, the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, the American Association of University Professors
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership is about 47,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations...
, and the International Organization for Feminist Economics
Awards
Barbara Bergmann received the 2004 Carolyn Shaw Bell Award for increasing the status of women in economics and creating an understanding of how women can advance in the academic fieldIdeas
Bergmann has made two main contributions to economics. First, she has argued that discrimination is a pervasive characteristic of labor markets. Second, she has argued against the traditional economic methodology of drawing conclusions from a set of unrealistic assumptions.Economics
Bergmann argues that “a lot of what is bad does come from capitalismCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, but that can be corrected by appropriate government regulations, and by the generous government provision of important services and safety nets. But a lot of what is good and indispensable comes from capitalism too”
Bergmann studied microsimulation
Microsimulation
-Introduction:Microsimulation is a category of computerized analytical tools that perform highly detailed analysis of activities such as highway traffic flowing through an intersection, financial transactions, or pathogens spreading disease through a population...
at Harvard University with computer generated simulation that provided a model with equations of macro
Macro
A macro in computer science is a rule or pattern that specifies how a certain input sequence should be mapped to an output sequence according to a defined procedure...
variables
Variable (mathematics)
In mathematics, a variable is a value that may change within the scope of a given problem or set of operations. In contrast, a constant is a value that remains unchanged, though often unknown or undetermined. The concepts of constants and variables are fundamental to many areas of mathematics and...
constructed on analogies of microeconomics
Microeconomics
Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies the behavior of how the individual modern household and firms make decisions to allocate limited resources. Typically, it applies to markets where goods or services are being bought and sold...
. She believes that microsimulation provides “rigor, realism, and an ability to incorporate complexity
Complexity
In general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are...
s revealed by more empirical
Empirical
The word empirical denotes information gained by means of observation or experimentation. Empirical data are data produced by an experiment or observation....
investigations into the workings of business.” In a class with Professor Edward Chamberlin
Edward Chamberlin
Edward Hastings Chamberlin was an American economist. He was born in La Conner, Washington.Chamberlin studied first at the University of Iowa , then pursued graduate-level studies at the University of Michigan, eventually receiving his Ph.D...
at Harvard, Bergmann discovered that economic theory, regardless of its ingenuity or prevalence in the field, can actually produce a different picture of the economy than reality. It was in a market experiment in Chamberlin’s class that Bergmann started to believe that economic theory needed to be influenced by actual observation of individuals. One of her personal views of economics is “that true anecdotes may well contain more valuable information about the state of things in the world than do economists’ theories, which are by and large nothing but (possibly untrue) stories made up by economists sitting in their offices, with no factual input whatever”.
Bergmann’s work attests to the way that some economists allow political affiliation to affect their work and theories – economists sometimes produce theories and ideas that support their personal or political views. The lack of empirical evidence and observation also makes economics less of a hard science, and thus a social science, making it potentially more prone to biases from the social factors. Bergmann holds that observation and empirical evidence can lead to theories that actually reflect human behavior instead of producing theories on paper that do not always work in reality. She argues that macroeconomics
Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics is a branch of economics dealing with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of the whole economy. This includes a national, regional, or global economy...
can fix many social problems and economic policy can be used to enhance the lives of individuals, but economists are too persuaded by political affiliation to work toward a common goal
Gender Equality
Barbara Bergmann notes that equality of the sexes was not present throughout civilizationCivilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
– around there is an economic and social division of labor between men and women historically. Although there has been an influx of women into the labor market and men are performing a larger amount of household labor, there is still an economic division between men and women. Bergmann views the best and most feasible option for equality to be “high commodification” where many of the household tasks and childcare predominantly performed by women are outsourced
Outsourced
Outsourced is a romantic comedy film, directed by John Jeffcoat, released in 2006.-Plot:When Todd Anderson's job and entire department are outsourced, he reluctantly travels to India to train his replacement...
to organizations and individuals. “High commodification” would include government subsidies for childcare
Childcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...
and availability for stipend
Stipend
A stipend is a form of salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed, instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried...
s for married couples and single mothers. Bergmann believes that an increase in commodificaion alone cannot bring about equality, but there also needs to be “an end to discrimination in employment, highly competitive behavior by women, and extra resources from government for families who are raising children.” Bergmann has a passion for gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
and desires to see government provisions for equitable
Equitable
-Companies:*Scottish Equitable, is an investment company located in Edinburgh*Equitable PCI Bank*The Equitable Life Assurance Society, life insurance company in the United Kingdom...
treatment of women in the workforce
Women in the workforce
Until modern industrialized times, legal and cultural practices, combined with the inertia of longstanding religious and educational traditions, had restricted women's entry and participation in the workforce. Economic dependency upon men, and consequently the poor socio-economic status of women...
.
See also
- Economics educationEconomics educationEconomics education or economic education is a field within economics that focuses on two main themes: 1) the current state of, and efforts to improve, the economics curriculum, materials and pedagogical techniques used to teach economics at all educational levels; and 2) research into the...
- Economic simulation
- Feminist economicsFeminist economicsFeminist economics broadly refers to a developing branch of economics that applies feminist lenses to economics. Research under this heading is often interdisciplinary or heterodox...
- Labor economics
- Welfare economicsWelfare economicsWelfare economics is a branch of economics that uses microeconomic techniques to evaluate economic well-being, especially relative to competitive general equilibrium within an economy as to economic efficiency and the resulting income distribution associated with it...
Publications
- America’s Child Care Problem: The Way Out (with Suzanne Helburn). New York: Palgrave, St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
- The Economic Emergence of Women (Second edition). New York: Palgrave, St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
- Is Social Security Broke?: A Cartoon Guide to the Issues (cartoons by Jim Bush). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
- “The Only Ticket to Equality: Total Androgyny, Male Style,” Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, Volume 9, Spring 1998: 75-86.
- In Defense of Affirmative Action. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1996.
- Saving Our Children From Poverty: What the United States Can Learn From France. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1996.
- "Becker's Theory of the Family: Preposterous Conclusions," Feminist Economics, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 1995. (Reprinted in Challenge, January/February 1996.)
- "Child Support Awards: State Guidelines Versus Public Opinion" (with Sherry Wetchler). Family Law Quarterly, Fall 1995, 29,3: 483-493.
- "A Budget-Based Definition of Poverty, With an Application to Single-Parent Families," (with Trudi J. Renwick). Journal of Human Resources 28:1. Winter 1993. 1-24.
- Nancy Folbre, Barbara R. Bergmann, Gita Sen, Maria Floro, eds., Women's Work in the World Economy. London: Macmillan, 1991.
- The Economic Emergence of Women. New York: Basic Books, 1986.
- A Microsimulated Transactions Model of the United States Economy (with Robert Bennett). Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985.
- Micro Simulation - Models, Methods and Applications (Edited, with Gunnar Eliasson and Guy Orcutt). Almqvist and Wiksell International, 1977.
- Structural Unemployment in the United States, (with David Kaun). U.S. Department of Commerce, 1967.
- The Impact of Highway Investment on Development, (with George W. Wilson, Leon V. Hirsch and Martin S. Klein). The Brookings Institution, 1966.
- Projection of a Metropolis, (with Benjamin Chinitz and Edgar Hoover). Harvard University Press, 1961.
External links
- http://www.american.edu/cas/econ/faculty/bergmann.htm
- International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE)
- Journal of Feminist Economics
- http://www.cswep.org/PDFs/Bell_announcement.pdf