Background
Oi, Walter Yasuo was born on July 1, 1929 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of Matsunosuke and Toshiko (Kawada) Oi.
Oi, Walter Yasuo was born on July 1, 1929 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of Matsunosuke and Toshiko (Kawada) Oi.
Bachelor of Science, University of California at Los Angeles, 1952. Master of Arts in Economics, University of California at Los Angeles, 1954. Doctor of Philosophy in Economics, University Chicago, 1961.
Instructor Iowa State College Department Economics, Ames, 1957-1958. Research economics Northwestern University, Evanston, 1958-1962. From associate professor to professor University Washington, Seattle, 1962-1967.
Professor graduate school management University Rochester, New York, 1967-1975, professor department economics, since 1975, chairman department economics, 1976-1982, 83-84, Elmer B. Milliman professor Economics, since 1978. Economist Institute Defense Analyses, Arlington, Virginia, 1966. Director economic analysis section Military Manpower Policy Study, United States Department Defense, Washington, 1964-1965.
Staff economist President's Commission on All-Volunteer Force, Washington, 1969-1970.
My first major paper (No. 1 above) tried to develop a coherent explanation for the observed cyclical behaviour of wages and employment. I try in my research to use economic theory to explain observed economic phenomena and to evaluate the merits of policy proposals.
My mentors at Chicago and University of California, Los Angeles, Calif., United States of America, H. G. Lewis, A. C. Harberger, A. A. Alchian and others, are responsible for the way in which I attack economic issues but they cannot be held accountable for the resulting products. After the quasi-fixity of labour, I turned my attention to transportation, applied price theory, and a brief foray into econometrics. If I must choose my favourites from this list, they would include the theory in the private trucking book (with A. P. Hurter Junior), the Disneyland Dilemma, the k-class estimators, and the economics of product safety.
Over the period 1964-1970 I devoted some 30 months or more to research on military manpower. I have written several papers on the economics of the military draft and I hope that these had some effect on the decision to end conscription. I like to think that they did but I also believe that the work of the President's Commission on an All-Volunteer Force (directed by W. H. Meckling) deserves much of the credit for the final policy decision.
In the last decade, my work has returned to labour economics and the theory of the firm.
The papers on workmen’s compensation, industrial safety, and residential location have benefited from my study of the articles written by
S. Becker. Recent papers (Nos. 9
and 10 above) represent my initial attempts to understand the structure of labour and product markets. It seems that if we are to understand labour and product markets, we must explicitly acknowledge and model the heterogeneity of firms as well as of goods and workers.
Adult co-chairman Task Force on Draft and National Service White House Conference on Youth, 1970-1971. Vice chairman President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, 1983-1989. Chairman New York State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, since 1988.
Fellow Econometrics Society, American Academy Arts and Sciences, American Economics Association (distinguished). Member Western Economics Association International (president 1991-1992).
Married Marjorie Louise Robbins. Children: Jessica Sumiye, Eleanor Haruko.