James A.Mirrlees
(Minnigaff, 1936) British economist.He studied at Douglas Ewart High School and Newton Stewart and entered the University of Edinburgh in 1954 to study mathematics, from which he graduated in 1957.From Scotland he left for England after his admission to Trinity College from the University of Cambridge.In this institution he continued his mathematical training, but during his stay in Cambridge there was an approach to economics that led him to do a doctorate in this discipline and which ended in 1963.
When Mirrlees finished his studies in Cambridge, began collaborating with Kaldor as a research assistant on issues related to economic growth.From that position he went to the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1962 and 1963, at which time he was linked to development studies in India.Upon his return to the UK, he obtained a position as Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge.
He held the position until in 1969 he decided to leave it to continue his academic career at the University of Oxford, an institution that appointed him Professor of Economics.Until 1995 he continued his teaching and research work at Oxford, the year in which he decided to return to Trinity College, Cambridge.
Specializing in the economies of the poorest countries in the world, he has applied advanced mathematical techniques to understand the social and economic aspects.In the mid-1960s, he proposed a solution to the "optimal tax" problem, supplementing Vickrey's proposal on the personal income transaction model.He also found that the methodology could be applied to other similar problems, which has made his work a major element in modern incentive analysis.Another field in which Mirrlees' contribution has found great acceptance is that of the analysis of Value Added Tax (VAT) rates with their relationship to social effectiveness.
He was elected vice president of the Econometric Society in 1980 and, two years later, he reached the presidency.Since 1989 he was president of the Royal Economic Society.He was also an advisor to different governments on issues related to development and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association of Economists.
In 1996 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, shared with Canadian William Vickrey.The winners deserved the award, according to the ruling, for their analysis of issues in which the so-called asymmetries of information play an important role, situations in which economists find various information when making decisions.
His works include Manual for the analysis of industrial projects in developing countries (1969).Furthermore, he has written Social study of cost-benefit in the industry of developing countries (1973); Models of economic growth (1973); o Project appraisal and planning for developing countries (1974), which has been translated into Spanish as Project appraisal and planning (1974); as well as numerous articles in specialized economics publications.
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