US ECONOMIST AWARDED NOBEL
CHICAGOAN CITED FOR STUDY OF REGULATION
Author: Associated Press
Date: Wednesday, October 20, 1982
Page: ?????
Section: RUN OF PAPER
A conservative economist at the University of Chicago, Prof. George Stigler,
won the Nobel Memorial Award in Economic Science today for research that
showed the impact of government regulation on the economy.
It was the 11th time that an American won the award, which was created in
1968 by the Swedish Riksbank as a memorial to Alfred Nobel. The stipend this
year is $157,000, the same as those for the five prizes given each year since
1901 under the terms of Nobel's will.
"Naturally I feel delighted, how can I feel another other way?," said
Stigler, reached by telephone in Chicago.
"Certainly I'm surprised," he said. "I heard that two other individuals
were going to win it, and they certainly will sooner or later."
Another American, Prof. Kenneth G. Wilson of Cornell University, won the
Nobel Prize in Physics prize on Monday.
The Swedish Academy of Sciences, in giving the award to Stigler, cited the
71-year-old economist for "his seminal studies of industrial structures,
functioning of markets and causes and effects of public regulations."
He said that he supports President Ronald Reagan's policies of less
government spending and deregulation of the economy, but that he could not
make any substantive comment on them.
Beginning in the 1940s, Stigler studied effects of regulatory legislation
in the United States, particularly rent controls and minimum-wage standards.
He indicated that far-reaching, unintended side-effects could arise.
Preliminary observations led him to the hypothesis, for which he found
statistical support, that some regulations protect firms, organizations, and
professional and occupational groups instead of the public.
Another study showed that regulation of electricity rates lacked
observable effects. Stigler said one explanation was that regulation can be
based on erroneous perceptions and can be difficult to carry out.
His work on the consequences of regulatory legislation has set a pattern
for numerous similar studies by researchers in many countries, the award
citation said.
The Swedish Academy said Stigler "through long and extensive research
efforts has made fundamental contributions to the study of market processes
and the analysis of the structure of industries."
He also is recognized as the founder of the study fields of "economics of
information" and "economics and regulation," the statement added. It said he
was one of the pioneers of research in how economics and law interact.
Among Stigler's books are "Production and Distribution Theories," 1940;
"The Theory of Price," 1946; "Trends in Output and Employment," 1947; "The
Intellectual and the Market Place," 1964; and "The Organization of Industry,"
1968.
Stigler holds degrees from the University of Washington, Northwestern
University, the University of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University.
He has taught at Iowa State College, the University of Minnesota, Brown
University, Columbia University and the London School of Economics, besides
the University of Chicago.
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