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W. Arthur Lewis

Saint Lucian economist (1915-1991) · United Kingdom · Academics · Died at 76

W. Arthur Lewis is read about 122 times a day, in 52 languages.

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The only Black economist to win the Nobel Prize, and the architect of a model that explained how poor countries could industrialize by pulling surplus labor out of subsistence farming into factories.

AcademicsAcademicEconomics20th Century

A life in dates

1991Died15 June 19911986Honorary Doctor of the Paul Cézanne UniversityAward1984“My interest in overhead costs was the structure of prices in situations where average cost per unit exceeds marginal cost.”In their wordsSeptember 1984lecture in September 1984, published in William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch (eds.), Lives of the Laureates (5th ed., 2009)

“A number of developing countries had been developing for a long time: Ceylon, for example, for a hundred years. Why was the standard of living of the masses still so low?”In their wordsSeptember 1984lecture in September 1984, published in William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch (eds.), Lives of the Laureates (5th ed., 2009)

“I make the point to remind you, if reminder be necessary, that the study of economic growth is still in its infancy.”In their wordsSeptember 1984lecture in September 1984, published in William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch (eds.), Lives of the Laureates (5th ed., 2009)

“Looking backward over my life, it has been a queer mixture.”In their wordsSeptember 1984lecture in September 1984, published in William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch (eds.), Lives of the Laureates (5th ed., 2009)

1979Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelAward1974Honorary DoctorateAward1962Honorary Doctor of the University of DakarAward1950“There are still people who discuss industrialization as... an alternative to agricultural improvement... this approach is without meaning in the West Indian Islands.”In their wordsLewis (1950; 831-2) as cited in: Mark Figueroa. "Rethinking Caribbean agriculture, re-evaluating Arthur Lewis misunderstood perspective."

1915Born23 January 1915

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

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In their own words 5

,
W. Arthur Lewis
,
5 statements, newest first

  1. My interest in overhead costs was the structure of prices in situations where average cost per unit exceeds marginal cost.

    Sep 1984, lecture in September 1984, published in William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch (eds.), Lives of the Laureates (5th ed., 2009), Own words

  2. A number of developing countries had been developing for a long time: Ceylon, for example, for a hundred years. Why was the standard of living of the masses still so low?

    Sep 1984, lecture in September 1984, published in William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch (eds.), Lives of the Laureates (5th ed., 2009), Own words

  3. I make the point to remind you, if reminder be necessary, that the study of economic growth is still in its infancy.

    Sep 1984, lecture in September 1984, published in William Breit and Barry T. Hirsch (eds.), Lives of the Laureates (5th ed., 2009), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Honorary Doctor of the Paul Cézanne University1986
Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel1979
Honorary Doctorate1974
Honorary Doctor of the University of Dakar1962
Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association
Knight Bachelor

About this person

Born in Saint Lucia on 23 January 1915, Lewis built a career that led him to Princeton, where he became the James Madison Professor of Political Economy. His 1954 paper "Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour" introduced the dual-sector model: a framework showing how economies with vast agricultural populations and surplus labor could fuel industrial growth by shifting workers into a modern capitalist sector. The insight reshaped development economics and earned him the Nobel Memorial Prize, a distinction no other Black economist has claimed. He died on 15 June 1991.

Country
United Kingdom
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1915 to 1991 · aged 76

In common with W.

William F. SharpeBoth received Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelJoel MokyrBoth received Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelFinn E. KydlandBoth received Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelDouglass NorthBoth received Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelRobert J. ShillerBoth received Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred NobelJames TobinBoth received Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

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