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George Stigler
George Joseph Stigler (/ˈstɪɡlər/; January 17, 1911 – December 1, 1991) was an American economist. He was the 1982 laureate in Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and is considered a key leader of the Chicago school of economics.
Stigler was born in Seattle, Washington, the son of Hungarian Elsie Elizabeth (Erzsébet Hungler, born in Bakonypéterd, Veszprém county, Kingdom of Hungary) and Bavarian Joseph Stigler. He was of German and Hungarian descent and spoke German in his childhood. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1931 with a B.A. and then spent a year at Northwestern University, from which he obtained his MBA in 1932. It was during his studies at Northwestern that Stigler developed an interest in economics and decided on an academic career.
After he received a tuition scholarship from the University of Chicago, Stigler enrolled there in 1933 to study economics and went on to earn his PhD in economics in 1938.
Stigler taught at Iowa State College from 1936 to 1938. He spent much of World War II at Columbia University, performing mathematical and statistical research for the Manhattan Project. He then spent one year at Brown University. He served on the Columbia faculty from 1947 to 1958.
At Chicago, he was greatly influenced by Frank Knight, his dissertation supervisor. Milton Friedman, a friend for over 50 years, commented that it was remarkable for Stigler to have passed his dissertation under Knight, as only three or four students had ever managed to do so in Knight's 28 years at Chicago. Stigler's influences included Jacob Viner and Henry Simons as well as students W. Allen Wallis and Friedman.
In 1977, Stigler founded the Center for the Study of the Economy and the State as a research center of the Chicago Booth School of Business. Upon Stigler's death in 1991, it was renamed the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State in his honor.
Stigler is best known for developing the Economic Theory of Regulation (1971), also known as regulatory capture, which says that interest groups and other political participants will use the regulatory and coercive powers of government to shape laws and regulations in a way that is beneficial to them. This theory is a component of the public choice field of economics but is also deeply opposed by public choice scholars belonging to the "Virginia School," such as Charles Rowley. He also carried out extensive research in the history of economic thought.
Stigler's most important contribution to economics was published in his landmark 1961 article, "The Economics of Information." According to Friedman, Stigler "essentially created a new area of study for economists." Stigler stressed the importance of information: "One should hardly have to tell academicians that information is a valuable resource: knowledge is power. And yet it occupies a slum dwelling in the town of economics." His 1962 article "Information in the Labor Market" developed the theory of search unemployment. In 1963 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
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George Stigler
George Joseph Stigler (/ˈstɪɡlər/; January 17, 1911 – December 1, 1991) was an American economist. He was the 1982 laureate in Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and is considered a key leader of the Chicago school of economics.
Stigler was born in Seattle, Washington, the son of Hungarian Elsie Elizabeth (Erzsébet Hungler, born in Bakonypéterd, Veszprém county, Kingdom of Hungary) and Bavarian Joseph Stigler. He was of German and Hungarian descent and spoke German in his childhood. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1931 with a B.A. and then spent a year at Northwestern University, from which he obtained his MBA in 1932. It was during his studies at Northwestern that Stigler developed an interest in economics and decided on an academic career.
After he received a tuition scholarship from the University of Chicago, Stigler enrolled there in 1933 to study economics and went on to earn his PhD in economics in 1938.
Stigler taught at Iowa State College from 1936 to 1938. He spent much of World War II at Columbia University, performing mathematical and statistical research for the Manhattan Project. He then spent one year at Brown University. He served on the Columbia faculty from 1947 to 1958.
At Chicago, he was greatly influenced by Frank Knight, his dissertation supervisor. Milton Friedman, a friend for over 50 years, commented that it was remarkable for Stigler to have passed his dissertation under Knight, as only three or four students had ever managed to do so in Knight's 28 years at Chicago. Stigler's influences included Jacob Viner and Henry Simons as well as students W. Allen Wallis and Friedman.
In 1977, Stigler founded the Center for the Study of the Economy and the State as a research center of the Chicago Booth School of Business. Upon Stigler's death in 1991, it was renamed the George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State in his honor.
Stigler is best known for developing the Economic Theory of Regulation (1971), also known as regulatory capture, which says that interest groups and other political participants will use the regulatory and coercive powers of government to shape laws and regulations in a way that is beneficial to them. This theory is a component of the public choice field of economics but is also deeply opposed by public choice scholars belonging to the "Virginia School," such as Charles Rowley. He also carried out extensive research in the history of economic thought.
Stigler's most important contribution to economics was published in his landmark 1961 article, "The Economics of Information." According to Friedman, Stigler "essentially created a new area of study for economists." Stigler stressed the importance of information: "One should hardly have to tell academicians that information is a valuable resource: knowledge is power. And yet it occupies a slum dwelling in the town of economics." His 1962 article "Information in the Labor Market" developed the theory of search unemployment. In 1963 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.