Background
Margolis, Julius was born on September 26, 1920 in New York City. Son of Sam and Fannie (Weiner) Margolis.
Margolis, Julius was born on September 26, 1920 in New York City. Son of Sam and Fannie (Weiner) Margolis.
BSS, City College of New York, 1941. Master of Philisophy in Economics, University Wisconsin, 1943. Master of Public Administration in Economics, Harvard, 1947.
Doctor of Philosophy, Harvard, 1949.
Economics Instructor, Tufts College,
8. Assistant Professor Economics and Planning, University Chicago, 1948-1951. Assistant Professor of Economics, Stanford University, 1951-1954.
Professor Business Administration, University California Berkeley,
64. Professor Economics and Engineering Economics, Stanford University, 1964-1969. Director, Fels Center Government, Professor Economics and Public Policy, University Pennsylvania, 1969-1975, 1969-1976.
Professor of Economics, University California Irvine, California, United States of America, since 1976. Economics Editor, Markham Publishers, 1963-1973. Editorial Boards, Water Resources Research, 1959-1964, American Behavioral Scientist, since 1970, Journal of Public Economics,
80.
My work has been focussed on the analysis of government behaviour. The first papers dealt with stabilisation policy: the ineffectiveness of counter-cyclical public expenditure programmes and the flaws in national economic accounts as policy tools. Subsequently, most of my research has fallen into two tracks: the development of operational criteria by which to evaluate public programmes (benefitscosts measurements) and the study of the behaviour of governments.
Occasionally the two strands have overlapped in policy studies of specific public-sector activities. Some studies dealt with par-
ticular public functions while others analysed changes in incentives and constraints to improve behaviour. Benefitscosts tools were initially designed for resources development programmes and my first applied studies were in the area of water resources, terminating in books 1 and 3 above.
My research shifted to the urban public sector and to the functioning of the complex of competitive and overlapping governments which comprise a Federal fiscal system. Though the central concern was the behavioural properties of governments, my research extended to private firms and to planning. In recent years my attention has shifted to the political economy of the national defence sector.
Member of Royal Economic Society, American Economic Association.
Married Doris Lubetsky, October 30, 1942. Children: Jane S., Carl W.