Avinash Kamalakar Dixit (born 6 August 1944) is an Indian-American economist. He is the John J. F. Sherrerd '52 University Professor of Economics

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, and has been distinguished adjunct professor of economics at Lingnan University (Hong Kong), senior research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and Sanjaya Lall Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford.

Education

Dixit received a B.Sc. from

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

( St. Xavier's College) in 1963 in

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, a B.A. from

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1965 in Mathematics ( Corpus Christi College, First Class), and a Ph.D. in 1968 from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Career

Dixit is the John J. F. Sherrerd '52 University Professor of Economics at

since July 1989, and Emeritus since 2010. He was also distinguished adjunct professor of economics at Lingnan University (Hong Kong), senior research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and Sanjaya Lall Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He previously taught at

, at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

and at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

. In 1994 Dixit received the first-ever CES Fellow Award from the Center for Economic Studies at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

in Germany. In January 2016, India conferred the Padma Vibhushan – the second highest of India's civilian honors to Dr. Dixit. Dixit has also held visiting scholar positions at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

and the

Russell Sage Foundation The Russell Sage Foundation is an American non-profit organisation established by Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for “the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States.” It was named after her re ...

. He was president of the

Econometric Society The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools in the practice of econometrics. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians o ...

in 2001, and was vice-president (2002) and president (2008) of the

American Economic Association The American Economic Association (AEA) is a learned society in the field of economics, with approximately 23,000 members. It publishes several peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Review, an ...

. He was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1992, the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 2005, and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 2010. He has also been on the Social Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize from 2011. A noted publication was a foundational contribution to the modern development of work on second-best optimum tax theory in his 1975 Welfare effects of tax and price changes ''Journal of Public Economics''. With Robert Pindyck he is author of "Investment Under Uncertainty" (

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

, 1994; ), the first textbook exclusively about the

real options Real options valuation, also often termed real options analysis,Adam Borison (Stanford University)''Real Options Analysis: Where are the Emperor's Clothes?'' (ROV or ROA) applies option (finance), option Valuation of options, valuation technique ...

approach to investments, and described as "a born-classic" in view of its importance to the theory. Sandmo, Agnar(1998) Foreword in Dixit, Avinash K. ''The making of economic policy: A transaction-cost politics perspective''. MIT press.

Selected publications

* 1976. ''The Theory of Equilibrium Growth''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. *1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity", '' The American Economic Review'', vol. 67, no. 3, p. 297–308, with Joseph E. Stiglitz. * 1980. ''Theory of International Trade'', with Victor Norman.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

* 9761990. ''Optimization in Economic Theory'', 2nd ed., Oxford.
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* 1991. '' Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life'', with Barry Nalebuff, New York: W.W. Norton. * 1993. ''The Art of Smooth Pasting'', Vol. 55 of series Fundamentals of Pure and Applied Economics, eds. Jacques Lesourne and Hugo Sonnenschein. Reading, UK: Harwood Academic Publishers. * 1996a.''Investment Under Uncertainty'', co-authored by Robert Pindyck. Princeton University Press. * 1996b. ''The Making of Economic Policy: A Transaction Cost Politics Perspective (Munich Lectures in Economics)'', M.I.T. Press
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* 2004. ''Lawlessness and Economics: Alternative Modes of Governance]'', Gorman Lectures in Economics, University College London,

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* 2008a. ''The Art of Strategy: A Game-Theorist's Guide to Success in Business and Life'' with Barry Nalebuff, New York: W. W. Norton. * 2008b. "economic governance," in '' The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'', 2nd Edition
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* 2009.
Games of Strategy
', with Susan Skeath and David McAdams, New York: W. W. Norton, 1999, 5th edition 2020. * 2014. ''Microeconomics: A Very Short Introduction'',

References

External links

Short biography

Curriculum vitae

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixit, Avinash 1944 births Living people Indian emigrants to the United States Academics of the University of Warwick 21st-century American economists Fellows of the Econometric Society American male writers of Indian descent MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Princeton University faculty Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni Presidents of the Econometric Society 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian economists Trade economists 21st-century Indian economists American financial economists Real options American academics of Indian descent Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education Presidents of the American Economic Association Writers from Mumbai 20th-century American male writers Distinguished fellows of the American Economic Association American male non-fiction writers Scientists from Mumbai Corresponding fellows of the British Academy 21st-century American male writers Members of the American Philosophical Society