Michael Allingham is a British

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 ...

whose main work has been on equilibrium theory, choice theory, and distributive justice. Michael Allingham with bronze and charcoal

Life

Michael Allingham was educated at

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

and then at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where he 'read natural philosophy and then political economy'. From 1967 until 1977 he taught at various universities in the U.K. and the U.S.; from 1977 to 1993 he held the chair in economic theory at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

; and from 1993 to 2009 he was Frank Richardson Fellow at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, where he is now an Emeritus Fellow. He has ridden under

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...

rules, and was joint-owner of the winner of the 2002 Dewhurst Stakes, 'the single most significant two-year-old race in Europe'. He has been a Local Steward, and Racecourse Chairman, with the

Work

Before moving to Oxford Allingham's main work was on

general equilibrium theory In economics, general equilibrium theory attempts to explain the behavior of supply, demand, and prices in a whole economy with several or many interacting markets, by seeking to prove that the interaction of demand and supply will result in an ov ...

; while he was teaching at Magdalen it was on

rational choice theory Rational choice modeling refers to the use of decision theory (the theory of rational choice) as a set of guidelines to help understand economic and social behavior. The theory tries to approximate, predict, or mathematically model human behav ...

; and subsequently, having taken an MA in philosophy, it has been on

distributive justice Distributive justice concerns the Social justice, socially just Resource allocation, allocation of resources, goods, opportunity in a society. It is concerned with how to allocate resources fairly among members of a society, taking into account fa ...

General equilibrium theory In economics, general equilibrium theory attempts to explain the behavior of supply, demand, and prices in a whole economy with several or many interacting markets, by seeking to prove that the interaction of demand and supply will result in an ov ...

is 'the most prestigious economics of all'. In substance, it concerns the workings of the entire economy; in style, it is axiomatic and rigorous.

Léon Walras Marie-Esprit-Léon Walras (; 16 December 1834 – 5 January 1910) was a French mathematical economics, mathematical economist and Georgist. He formulated the Marginalism, marginal theory of value (independently of William Stanley Jevons and Carl ...

, the founder of general equilibrium theory, claimed in 1854 that 'pure economics is, in essence, the theory of the determination of prices under a hypothetical regime of perfectly free competition'. Allingham's work is rooted in the Walrasian tradition: in his entry in ''Who's Who in Economics'' he refers to Walras's definition, and says that his own work may be seen as an extension of this.

Rational choice theory Rational choice modeling refers to the use of decision theory (the theory of rational choice) as a set of guidelines to help understand economic and social behavior. The theory tries to approximate, predict, or mathematically model human behav ...

transcends the boundaries of economics, and exemplifies Allingham's interests as being 'in the core theoretical problems which lie at the intersection of philosophy and economics'. It explores what is meant by rationality, and how this may be characterized. His work in this area is also axiomatic: as a review in ''

The Economic Journal ''The Economic Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics published on behalf of the Royal Economic Society by Oxford University Press. The journal was established in 1891 and publishes papers from all areas of economics.The edito ...

'' of his book ''Rational Choice'' notes, 'its treatment is abstract and axiomatic ... few concessions are being made to the uninitiated'.

Distributive justice Distributive justice concerns the Social justice, socially just Resource allocation, allocation of resources, goods, opportunity in a society. It is concerned with how to allocate resources fairly among members of a society, taking into account fa ...

again transcends the boundaries of economics. It considers what is meant by a just distribution of goods among members of society. Allingham develops the view that all theories of justice, or at least all liberal theories, may be seen as expressions of laissez-faire with compensations for factors that they consider to be morally arbitrary. His latest book has been described by a reviewer as 'a probing analytical comparison, by an economic theorist, of the major accounts dominating that literature ... meticulously isolating their respective strengths and weaknesses: a ''tour de force. Allingham is also the author of the novel ''Trust'', 'an entertainment in the sense used by Graham Greene: a story that shows a profound interest in the interplay of morality and abnormal behavior'.

Publications

;Academic books *''Distributive Justice'',

Routledge Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...

, 2014 *''Rational Choice Theory'' (editor, five volumes),

, 2006 *''Choice Theory: A Very Short Introduction'',

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 ...

, 2002 (translated into Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Russian, and Spanish; also available as an Audiobook) *''Rational Choice'',

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

, 1999 *''Arbitrage'',

, 1991 (translated into Italian) *''Theory of Markets'',

, 1989 *''Unconscious Contracts'',

, 1987 (republished as Volume 1 in ''Routledge Library Editions: Psychoanalysis'') *''Value'',

, 1983 *''General Equilibrium'', Macmillan, 1975 *''Equilibrium and Disequilibrium'', Ballinger, 1973 ;Essential articles *Existence theorems in the capital asset pricing model, ''

Econometrica ''Econometrica'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics, publishing articles in many areas of economics, especially econometrics. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Econometric Society. The current editor-in-chief is ...

'', 59 *Stability of monopoly, ''

'', 44 *Equilibrium and stability, ''

'', 42 (reprinted in ''Critical Ideas in Economics: Equilibrium'', ed. Walker) *Tâtonnement stability, ''

'', 40 *Second best and decentralization (with Archibald), ''

Journal of Economic Theory The ''Journal of Economic Theory'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of economic theory. Karl Shell has served as editor-in-chief of the journal since it was established in 1968. Since 2000, he has shared the editor ...

'', 10 *The measurement of inequality, ''

'', 5

References

External links

Academic webpageChoice TheoryDistributive JusticeRational ChoiceRational Choice TheoryTrust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allingham, Michael Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford Living people Year of birth missing (living people)