James A. Mirrlees
| Sir James Mirrlees | |
|---|---|
| Born |
5 July 1936 Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland |
| Nationality | British |
| Institution |
Chinese University of Hong Kong Oxford University University of Cambridge |
| Field | Political economics |
| Alma mater |
University of Edinburgh Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Doctoral advisor |
Richard Stone |
| Doctoral students |
Partha Dasgupta Nicholas Stern Peter J. Hammond Franklin Allen Barry Nalebuff Huw Dixon Anthony Venables John Vickers Alan Manning Gareth Myles Paul Seabright Hyun-Song Shin Zhang Weiying |
| Influenced | Iván Werning, Joseph Stiglitz |
| Awards | Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1996) |
| Information at IDEAS / RePEc | |
Sir James Alexander Mirrlees FRSE FBA (born 5 July 1936) is a Scottish economist and winner of the 1996 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was knighted in 1998.
Born in Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Mirrlees was educated at the University of Edinburgh (MA in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1957) and Trinity College, Cambridge (Mathematical Tripos and PhD in 1963 with thesis title Optimum Planning for a Dynamic Economy, supervised by Richard Stone). He was a very active student debater. One contemporary, Quentin Skinner, has suggested that Mirrlees was a member of the Cambridge Apostles along with fellow Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen during the period. Between 1968 and 1976, Mirrlees was a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology three times. He taught at both Oxford University (1968–1995) and University of Cambridge (1963–1968 and 1995–).
During his time at Oxford, he published papers on economic models for which he would eventually be awarded his Nobel Prize. The papers centred on asymmetric information, which determines the extent to which they should affect the optimal rate of saving in an economy. Among other results, he demonstrated the principles of "moral hazard" and "optimal income taxation" discussed in the books of William Vickrey. The methodology has since become the standard in the field.
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