Maurice Allais French economist Date of Birth: 31.05.1911 Country: France

1. Biography of Maurice Allais
2. Early Life and Education
3. World War II and Academic Career
4. Contributions to Economic Theory

Biography of Maurice Allais

Maurice Allais (1911-2010) was a French economist who dedicated his career to various areas of economic theory. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1988 for his contributions to the field.

Early Life and Education

Maurice Allais was born on May 31, 1911, in Paris, France. He completed his education at the Polytechnic School in Paris in 1933. Afterward, he worked in the national mining service.

World War II and Academic Career

During World War II, Allais participated in operations on the Italian front. After the capitulation of France, he served in the statistical bureau of mining affairs in Paris.

In 1944, Allais became a professor at the Higher National School of Mining in Paris. In 1946, he became the head of a group at the National Center for Scientific Research, and in 1947, he became a professor at the Institute of Statistics at the University of Paris. Throughout his career, he also worked in the United States, Switzerland, and various other countries, as well as participated in the work of governmental and international expert commissions. He retired in 1980 but continued to engage in active scientific research.

Contributions to Economic Theory

Allais' work focused on general equilibrium theory and the social optimum, economic growth and maximum efficiency, distribution theory, money theory, and choice theory. He is the author of several notable works, including "A la Recherche d'une discipline économique. L'Économie pure" (1943), "Économie pure et rendement social" (1945), "Économie et intérêt" (1947), "Traité d'économie pure" (1952), "Les Fondements du calcul économique" (1967), "La Théorie générale des surplus" (1978), and "Cardinal utility and general random choice theory" (1989), among others.

Allais is known for his "equivalence theorem," the "Allais paradox," and his concept of competitive planning in relation to large state monopolies. He is considered one of the founders of the French marginalist school.

Maurice Allais passed away on October 9, 2010, leaving behind a significant body of work that continues to influence economic theory.