Sir Roy George Douglas Allen, CBE, FBA (3 June 1906 – 29 September 1983) was an English

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

statistician A statistician is a person who works with theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, and statisticians may w ...

, also member of the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. It was founded in 1885, although there had been international statistical congresses since 1853. The institute has about 4,000 elected members from gov ...

Life

Allen was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

and educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester, from which he won a scholarship to

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wif ...

. He gained a

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

, ranking top of his year as the Senior Wrangler. He became a lecturer at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...

(LSE) later becoming Professor of Statistics. He wrote many papers and books on mathematical economics including the famous paper on ''A Reconsideration of the Theory of Value'' published in ''

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

'' in 1934 with Sir

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economic ...

. Other books include: ''Mathematical Analysis for Economists'' (1938), ''Statistics for Economists'' (1949), ''Mathematical Economics'' (1956), and ''Macroeconomic Theory'' (1967). Allen was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in 1966 for his services to economics and became president of the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

, who awarded him the

Guy Medal The Guy Medals are awarded by the Royal Statistical Society in three categories; Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Silver and Bronze medals are awarded annually. The Gold Medal was awarded every three years between 1987 and 2011, but is awarded biennia ...

in Gold in 1978. He was also treasurer of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...

of which he was a fellow (FBA). He introduced the concept of " partial elasticity of substitution" to economics in his famous 1938 book ''Mathematical Analysis for Economists''. Allen became a fellow of Sidney Sussex, Cambridge and died in 1983. He had a son, Jeremy, who was a co-founder of the consultancy International Planning and Research, and a grandson, Dion.

Publications (selection)

* "The Nature of Indifference Curves", 1934, RES. * "The Concept of the Arc Elasticity of Demand", 1934, RES * "A Reconsideration of the Theory of Value", 1934, Economica, Part II 1(2), pp
196-219.
(Part I by J.R. Hicks) * Family Expenditure with A.L. Bowley, 1935. * Mathematical Analysis for Economists, 1938. 1st-page chapte
links.
Review fragments by J.R. Hick

and Carl F. Christ (1st paragraph

* "The Supply of Engineering Labor under Boom Conditions", with B. Thomas, 1939, Economic Journal. * Statistics for Economists, 1949. Review by Wilhelm Winkler

(German). * "Index Numbers of Retail Prices, 1938-51", 1952, Applied Statistics. * Mathematical Economics, 1956. Review fragments by Oskar Morgenstern

C.F. Carte

and Carl F. Christ (2nd and 3rd para.

* Macroeconomic Theory, 1967. * "On Official Statistics and Official Statisticians", 1970, J of Royal Statistical Society. * Index Numbers in Theory and Practice, 1975. * Introduction to National Accounts Statistics, 1980.

References

Sources

;Obituaries * E. Grebenik Roy George Douglas Allen 1906–1983,

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society The ''Journal of the Royal Statistical Society'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of statistics. It comprises three series and is published by Wiley for the Royal Statistical Society. History The Statistical Society of London was founded ...

. Series A (General), Vol. 147, No. 5 (1984), pp. 706–707. * Obituary: Sir Roy Allen, CBE, FBA (1906-1983,The Statistician, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Dec., 1984), pp. 401–406. (includes list of Allen's publications.)

External links

New School: Roy G. D. Allen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Roy George Douglas 1906 births 1983 deaths Academics of the London School of Economics Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English economists Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Scientists from Worcester, England Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society Knights Bachelor People educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester 20th-century English mathematicians 20th-century British economists Fellows of the Econometric Society Presidents of the Econometric Society