Ten Nobels for the future

Kenneth J. Arrow was born in 1921 in New York, and obtained his B.S. in Social Science from The City College of New York and his M.A. (in Mathematics) and Ph.D. (in Economics) from Columbia University.

Arrow has made a major contribution to the introduction of more refined analytical techniques to economics and helped pave the way for some of the most interesting developments in the economics of uncertainty and monetary economics. He has also made a seminal contribution to the study of public choice, introducing the concept of the social welfare function.

His research interests range from the economics of information and organization to collective decision-making, general equilibrium theory and theories of justice. His current research focuses on markets with incomplete information, negotiation, information and communication structures and equilibrium under monopolistic competition.

Arrow has taught in several universities in the United States and in Europe and is presently Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Operations Research, Emeritus at Stanford University. His many professional affiliations include the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the British Academy and the Finnish Academy of Sciences. He has received 16 honorary degrees from American and European universities, and has also been President of the Econometric Society, the American and the International Economic Associations and the Western Economic Association.

His most important works include Social Choice and Individual Values (1951), General Competitive Analysis (with F. Hahn, 1971) and the Collected Papers of Kenneth J. Arrow (1984).

In 1972, Arrow was co-recipient with Sir John R. Hicks of the Nobel Prize in Economics "for their pioneering contributions to general economic equilibrium theory and welfare theory".

1996
Individual responsibility:
for self, for others

2000
Information
and the Role of Public Policy