Economic Survey of Liberia records
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Economic Survey of Liberia records
- Identifier
- BMRC.NU.LIBERIA
- Repository
- Northwestern University, University Archives
- Language
- English
- Size
- 3.34 Linear feet
- Dates
- 1956-1962
Historical note
Between January 1961 and August 1962 a team of researchers from Northwestern University conducted an economic survey of Liberia in West Africa. Their purpose was to "analyze the structure of the Liberian economy and measure its performance in order to suggest policies for development." The project was initiated by the Government of Liberia through the International Cooperation Administration (ICA) and was funded by a grant form the ICA. Participating in the survey were seven permanent staff members located in Liberia, four short-term consultants, and four staff members resident on the Northwestern University campus. During the period of the survey these researchers attempted to ascertain the structure of the Liberian economy by interviewing the heads of the Liberian government departments, collecting official records and documents, conducting a census of economic activities, and by collecting statistics on the movement within the Liberian economy of goods, funds, people, and resources. The reports, which contain the results of the survey, were printed in one volume by Northwestern University in September, 1962 under the title of Economic Survey of Liberia. A subsequent work, Growth Without Development, written by Robert Clower, George Dalton, Mitchell Harwitz, and Alan Waters and published by Northwestern University Press in 1966, is based on the findings of the Economic Survey.
Scope and Contents note
Arranged in five categories: Project administration, Project correspondence, Project papers, Resource material, and Miscellany. Project administration papers include the contract between Northwestern University and the ICA, financial documents concerning the budget of the project, and files on project personnel. Project correspondence also includes weekly and monthly field reports. Project papers are drafts of some of the twenty-three Staff Papers which appear in finished form in "Economic Survey of Liberia." Miscellany includes financial records such as purchase orders, requisitions, travel vouchers and cancelled checks, memoranda of importance to the project from the American Embassy in Liberia, the Liberian Government, and the United States Operations Mission; and information on several conferences concerned with economic improvement.
Processing Information note
This collection was surveyed as part of the Black Metropolis Research Consortium's Survey Initiative on 2010 March 2 by Lisa Calahan and Lauren Kalal.