His analysis of the role of cultural and sociological factors in economic development was influential and contrasted to Chicago School models of self-interested maximizing behavior.
He studied at the University of Vienna from 1932 to 1937, notably attending two seminars by Ludwig von Mises, and received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1936.
At Chicago he also supervised the doctoral thesis of radical economist Andre Gunder Frank, the founder of Dependency Theory.
In linking together the two topics of economic development and cultural change, the founders and staff of the Center took the view that cooperative, interdisciplinary research would be required to address the relevant issues.
The journal focused on developing countries in the midst of on-going economic concerns with postwar reconstruction and emerging Cold War tensions.
It was also distinctive among development journals in emphasizing application of social science and interdisciplinary perspectives rather than simple advocacy or ad hoc generalizations.
His employment of Parson's pattern variables and his focus on cultural change contrasted to the Chicago department's emphasis on universal maximizing behavior.
Hoselitz's writings acknowledge the likely possibility that top-down planners will be required to direct the course of economic development for under-developed economies, in contrast to the Chicago department's usual preference for laissez faire policies.