W. Brian Arthur
Encyclopedia
William Brian Arthur is an economist
credited with influencing and describing the modern theory of increasing returns. He has lived and worked in Northern California for many years. He is an authority on economics in relation to complexity theory, technology and financial markets. Presently, he is on the external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute
, and a Visiting Researcher at the Intelligent Systems Lab at PARC.
, Northern Ireland
. He received his B. Sc. in Electrical Engineering at Queens University Belfast (1966), a M. A. in Operational Research (1967), at Lancaster University
, Lancaster, England, and an M. A. in Mathematics at the University of Michigan
(1969). Arthur received his Ph.D. in Operations Research
(1973) and an M. A. in Economics (1973) from the University of California, Berkeley
.
At age 37, Dr. Arthur was the youngest endowed chair holder at Stanford University.
Arthur is the former Morrison Professor of Economics and Population Studies; Professor of Human Biology, Stanford University
, 1983-1996. He is the co-founder of the Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies at Stanford.
Arthur is one of the distinguished External Research Faculty members at the Santa Fe Institute
, Santa Fe, New Mexico
, USA. Arthur's long association with the Institute started in 1987 with the introduction and support of Stanford economist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Kenneth Arrow
, and Philip Warren Anderson
, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
. Arthur was named as the first director of the interdisciplinary Economics Program at the Institute beginning in 1988. He was named the Citibank Professor at the Institute in 1994, with the endowment of Citibank
and then-Citibank CEO John S. Reed
.
He served several terms on the Science Board 1988-2006, and Board of Trustees, 1994–2004, during his association with the Institute.
Arthur was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1987. Arthur was also awarded the Schumpeter Prize in 1990.
He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Economic Sciences degree from the National University of Ireland
(2000).
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree (Honoris Causa) from Lancaster University
on 9 December 2009
He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society
, World Economic Forum
, and PricewaterhouseCoopers
.
or increasing returns in economies, and how these increasing returns magnify small, random occurrences in the market place." These principles are especially significant in technology-specific industries.(EL1)
field. Specifically, his complexity studies focused on the "economics of high technology; how business evolves in an era of high technology; cognition in the economy; and financial markets."
Arthur's comments on the evolution of complexity theory
as a different way of seeing and conducting scientific inquiry:
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
credited with influencing and describing the modern theory of increasing returns. He has lived and worked in Northern California for many years. He is an authority on economics in relation to complexity theory, technology and financial markets. Presently, he is on the external faculty at the Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, including physical, computational, biological, and social systems.The Institute houses a...
, and a Visiting Researcher at the Intelligent Systems Lab at PARC.
Biography
W. Brian Arthur was born in 1945 in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. He received his B. Sc. in Electrical Engineering at Queens University Belfast (1966), a M. A. in Operational Research (1967), at Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
, Lancaster, England, and an M. A. in Mathematics at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
(1969). Arthur received his Ph.D. in Operations Research
Operations research
Operations research is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations...
(1973) and an M. A. in Economics (1973) from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
At age 37, Dr. Arthur was the youngest endowed chair holder at Stanford University.
Arthur is the former Morrison Professor of Economics and Population Studies; Professor of Human Biology, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, 1983-1996. He is the co-founder of the Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies at Stanford.
Arthur is one of the distinguished External Research Faculty members at the Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, including physical, computational, biological, and social systems.The Institute houses a...
, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, USA. Arthur's long association with the Institute started in 1987 with the introduction and support of Stanford economist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Kenneth Arrow
Kenneth Arrow
Kenneth Joseph Arrow is an American economist and joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics with John Hicks in 1972. To date, he is the youngest person to have received this award, at 51....
, and Philip Warren Anderson
Philip Warren Anderson
Philip Warren Anderson is an American physicist and Nobel laureate. Anderson has made contributions to the theories of localization, antiferromagnetism and high-temperature superconductivity.- Biography :...
, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
. Arthur was named as the first director of the interdisciplinary Economics Program at the Institute beginning in 1988. He was named the Citibank Professor at the Institute in 1994, with the endowment of Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
and then-Citibank CEO John S. Reed
John S. Reed
John Shepard Reed is the former Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. He previously served as Chairman and CEO of Citicorp, Citibank, and post-merger, Citigroup. He is currently the Chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Office of Corporation. He was born in Chicago, Illinois,...
.
He served several terms on the Science Board 1988-2006, and Board of Trustees, 1994–2004, during his association with the Institute.
Arthur was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1987. Arthur was also awarded the Schumpeter Prize in 1990.
He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Economic Sciences degree from the National University of Ireland
National University of Ireland
The National University of Ireland , , is a federal university system of constituent universities, previously called constituent colleges, and recognised colleges set up under the Irish Universities Act, 1908, and significantly amended by the Universities Act, 1997.The constituent universities are...
(2000).
He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree (Honoris Causa) from Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
on 9 December 2009
He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society
Econometric Society
The Econometric Society is an international society for the advancement of economic theory in its relation with statistics and mathematics. It was founded on December 29, 1930 at the Stalton Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio....
, World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
, and PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....
.
Work
Arthur is noted for his seminal works "studying the impacts of positive feedbackPositive feedback
Positive feedback is a process in which the effects of a small disturbance on a system include an increase in the magnitude of the perturbation. That is, A produces more of B which in turn produces more of A. In contrast, a system that responds to a perturbation in a way that reduces its effect is...
or increasing returns in economies, and how these increasing returns magnify small, random occurrences in the market place." These principles are especially significant in technology-specific industries.(EL1)
Complexity Theory
Arthur is one of the early economic researchers in the emerging complexityComplexity
In general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In science there are at this time a number of approaches to characterizing complexity, many of which are...
field. Specifically, his complexity studies focused on the "economics of high technology; how business evolves in an era of high technology; cognition in the economy; and financial markets."
Arthur's comments on the evolution of complexity theory
Complex systems
Complex systems present problems in mathematical modelling.The equations from which complex system models are developed generally derive from statistical physics, information theory and non-linear dynamics, and represent organized but unpredictable behaviors of systems of nature that are considered...
as a different way of seeing and conducting scientific inquiry:
Complexity theory is really a movement of the sciences. Standard sciences tend to see the world as mechanistic. That sort of science puts things under a finer and finer microscope. In biology the investigations go from classifying organisms to functions of organisms, then organs themselves, then cells, and then organelles, right down to protein and enzymes, metabolic pathways, and DNA. This is finer and finer reductionist thinking.
The movement that started complexity looks in the other direction. It’s asking, how do things assemble themselves? How do patterns emerge from these interacting elements? Complexity is looking at interacting elements and asking how they form patterns and how the patterns unfold. It’s important to point out that the patterns may never be finished. They’re open-ended. In standard science this hit some things that most scientists have a negative reaction to. Science doesn’t like perpetual novelty.
Publications
W. Brian Arthur has published several books, papers, articles and more. A selection:- 1994. Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
- 1997. The Economy as an Evolving Complex System II, edited with Steven Durlauf and David Lane, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, Series in the Sciences of Complexity.
- 2009. The Nature of Technology: What it Is and How it Evolves. The Free Press and Penguin Books.
External links
- W. Brian Arthur, External Research Faculty, Santa Fe Institute
- Recent Papers by W. Brian Arthur
- Legg Mason Thought Leader Forum 2004, Dr. Arthur's remarks plus mind-mapped notes.