Background
Dorfman, Robert was born on October 27, 1916 in New York City. Son of Samuel M. and Mina Ruth (Gordon) Dorfman.
(This text reflects Professor Dorfman's contribution to th...)
This text reflects Professor Dorfman's contribution to the analysis of public decisions during the last 40 years, and covers topics such as capital theory, general equilibrium, natural resource economics, welfare economics, and social decision theory.
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( Designed primarily for economists and those interested ...)
Designed primarily for economists and those interested in management economics who are not necessarily accomplished mathematicians, this text offers a clear, concise exposition of the relationship of linear programming to standard economic analysis. The research and writing were supported by The RAND Corporation in the late 1950s. Linear programming has been one of the most important postwar developments in economic theory, but until publication of the present volume, no text offered a comprehensive treatment of the many facets of the relationship of linear programming to traditional economic theory. This book was the first to provide a wide-ranging survey of such important aspects of the topic as the interrelations between the celebrated von Neumann theory of games and linear programming, and the relationship between game theory and the traditional economic theories of duopoly and bilateral monopoly. Modern economists will especially appreciate the treatment of the connection between linear programming and modern welfare economics and the insights that linear programming gives into the determinateness of Walrasian equilibrium. The book also offers an excellent introduction to the important Leontief theory of input-output as well as extensive treatment of the problems of dynamic linear programming. Successfully used for three decades in graduate economics courses, this book stresses practical problems and specifies important concrete applications.
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Dorfman, Robert was born on October 27, 1916 in New York City. Son of Samuel M. and Mina Ruth (Gordon) Dorfman.
Bachelor, Columbia University, 1936. Master of Arts, Columbia University, 1937. Doctor of Philosophy, University California, Berkeley, 1950.
Assistant State, United States Bureau Labor State, 1939-1941. State, United States Office Price Administration, 1941-1943. Operations Analyst, United States Air Force, S.W. Pacific Theatre, Washington, District of Columbia, 1943-1946, 1948-1950.
Association Professor of Economics, University California Berkeley, 1950-1955. Professor of Economics, Harvard University, 1955-1972. Consultant, Agency for International Development, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Brookings
Institute, Institution, United States President's Council Economics Advisers, Development Advisory Service, Harvard University, Energy Information Agency, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Commission Population and the American Future, RAND Corporation.
David A. Wells Professor Political Economics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, since 1972. Editorial Boards, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1976-. American Editor, Review of Economic Studies, 1953-1963.
(This text reflects Professor Dorfman's contribution to th...)
( Designed primarily for economists and those interested ...)
My shots have been scattered. My first publications were in the area of applied mathematical statistics. My doctoral dissertation was, probably, the pioneering effort in applying non-linear programming, which had not yet been invented, to the theory of the monopolistically competitive firm.
It was followed, in 1958, by a full-dress interpretation of microeconomic theory in linear programming terms, written with P. A. Samuelson and R. M. Solow. At about that time, my interest in natural resource economics developed, and I began participating in the Harvard Water Program. Design of Water Resource Systems, written with other members of the Program, was the major result of that enterprise.
The interest in natural resource economics led in several directions.
One was toward public investments in general, resulting in the symposium, Measuring Benefits of Government In
vestments, ‘General Equilibrium with Public Goods’ (1969), and several related papers. A second was toward development policies for less developed countries, which was pursued by active consultation in a number of less developed countries but only minor published contributions. And, finally this interest led directly into environmental economics, where it still continues, and to the collection, Economics of the Environment, to Regulating Pesticides, the report of a National Research Council committee that I chaired, and to numerous papers.
Off this main line, I am especially pleased to have written the early paper on advertising (with P. O. Steiner), the expository article on optimal control theory, and the article on internal rates of return.
Fellow American Academy Arts and Sciences, Econometric Society (council 1962-1964). Member American Economics Association (vice president 1982, Distinguished fellow 1993), Institute Management Science (president 1965-1966), Association Resource and Environmental Economists (vice president 1981).
Married Nancy Schelling, November 6, 1949. Children: Peter J., Ann E.