Richard Kerschagl · 1952
Richard Kerschagl’s German-language comparative study connects American university organization with the intellectual character of economics and business administration. Drawing on teaching experience and conversations with economists, it moves from educational institutions to disciplinary developments and comparison with Europe. Its governing contrast places American specialization, practical preparation, and well-supported research alongside European traditions of general education, theoretical integration, and methodological breadth.
The institutional discussion explains why straightforward equivalences between American and continental education can mislead. School structures vary, while the range of institutions complicates comparison:
Die Zahl der irgendwie als Universität oder Hochschulen im kontinentalen Sinne zu bezeichnenden Studienanstalten ist außerordentlich groß.
English translation: The number of institutions of study that can in any way be designated as universities or institutions of higher learning in the continental sense is extraordinarily large.
The qualification “im kontinentalen Sinne” identifies the comparative problem: European categories do not map neatly onto American institutions. Kerschagl therefore examines governance, qualifications, appointments, examinations, and finance before evaluating disciplinary achievement. He provides a schematic account of degree progression:
Das Studium auf den Bachelor Degree dauert in der Regel vier Jahre, von da auf den Master Degree zwei Jahre und von da auf den Doctor Degree abermals zwei Jahre.
English translation: The course of study for the Bachelor Degree lasts as a rule four years, from there to the Master Degree two years, and from there to the Doctor Degree a further two years.
This sequence situates specialization within a longer educational pathway. Kerschagl contrasts the independence encouraged in high school with closer supervision of university attendance and written work. Teaching arrangements combine structured groups with professorial discretion:
Die Studenten sind in Classes eingeteilt, wobei dem betreffenden Professor die Aufnahme freisteht.
English translation: The students are divided into Classes, whereby admission is left to the discretion of the professor concerned.
These arrangements inform his assessment of specialization. Economics, business administration, law, and sociology occupy largely separate academic units, limiting students’ exposure to neighboring disciplines. Kerschagl acknowledges the effectiveness of vocational preparation but questions training insufficiently supported by general education and theoretical connections.
His economics survey describes the declining importance of institutionalism, behaviorism, and disutility theory, the persistence of neoclassicism, and what he considers a retreat from Keynesian dominance. These are situated judgments: his defense of economics independent of normative political demands, attention to epistemology, and admiration for Mises’s Human Action disclose his evaluative standards. American economics appears fragmented when measured against his ideal of a coherent theoretical system.
The discussion of mathematics complicates any simple opposition between European theory and American technique. Kerschagl credits mathematical methods with sharpening criticism and checking vague speculation, while warning that formal precision can conceal incomplete explanation. Psychological factors in inflation and normative assumptions in accounts of social justice resist reduction to formulas. His concern is less with mathematics itself than with the explanatory authority claimed for its results.
These reservations coexist with appreciation of American specialized research. He highlights Leontieff’s input-output analysis, monetary and capital-formation studies, productivity and population research, and investigations connecting international trade theory with policy. Research institutes and governmental bodies assemble resources and teams capable of influencing decisions directly. Their success also produces institutional tensions when higher salaries attract scholars away from universities.
The business-administration discussion develops the distinction between practical effectiveness and theoretical integration. Model firms, bookkeeping exercises, case teaching, and specialized courses prepare students for employment. Yet European theoretical literature remains little known, and subjects joined within European business economics are dispersed across American departments. Emerging work on business economics, prices, competition, and costs suggests possibilities for convergence.
The conclusion turns comparison into a program of reciprocal learning. European scholars need stronger mathematics to engage American research; Americans need better language skills and translations to follow European scholarship. Parallel verbal and mathematical exposition could improve communication. Although Kerschagl’s contrast between European fundamental inquiry and American purpose-directed research relies on broad cultural generalizations, he treats tradition as both resource and constraint. His constructive aim is to prevent differences in training and scholarly language from hardening into mutual incomprehension.
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