From statistics to development : the Historical School of Economics and the International Statistical Institute

Abstract

When the International Statistical Institute (ISI) was founded in London in 1885, it assembled statisticians and demographers, as well as engineers and even entrepreneurs. Most of all, however, it brought together economists, which quickly made the ISI the most important international forum for the discipline. Based on intensive study of official ISI publications as well as the correspondence and writings of its members, the article first describes the foundation of the ISI from the perspective of the growing discipline of economics, and with a particular eye on followers of the younger German Historical School of Economics. Focusing on labour statistics, it then delves into one field of activity of this group of Institute members more thoroughly in order to reflect their contribution to the concept of economic development, whose origins are usually located in the context of ninetenth-century colonialism. Ultimately, the article makes the case for attributing to the International Statistical Institute its due place and significance in the intellectual history of development thinking.