Profile Major Works Resources

Robert Dorfman, 1916-2002

Photo of R.Dorfman

Originating from New York City, Robert Dorfman studied at Columbia University, obtaining his BA in mathematical statistics in 1936 and an MA in economics in 1937. During WWII, Dorfman worked in statistics and operations research for the US government and the US Air Force. After the war, Dorfman returned to his studies, obtaining a Ph.D from UC Berkeley in 1950. He stayed on at Berkeley until 1955, when he finally moved to Harvard University, where would remain for the remainder of his career.

Dorfman is perhaps most famous for the popularizing the use of linear programming in economics.  His famous 1958 book with Samuelson and Solow became an instant classic (affectionately known as "DOSSO").  Although Dorfman would later express reservations about the excessive mathematization of economics, he was nonetheless a critical spearhead of it, and was particularly gifted in its exposition, making it more accessible to economists generally, rather than the province of a small clique of specialists.

 

  

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Major Works of Robert Dorfman

  • Application of Linear Programming to the Theory of the Firm, including an analysis of monopolistic firms by non-linear programming. 1951
  • "Mathematical or "Linear" Programming: a non-mathematical exposition", 1953, AER.
  • Linear Programming and Economic Analysis, with P.A. Samuelson and R.M. Solow, 1958
  • "A Graphical Exposition of Böhm- Bawerk's Interest Theory", 1959, RES.
  • "Waiting and the Period of Production", 1959, QJE.
  • Prices and Markets, 1967.
  • "General Equilibrium with Public Goods", 1969, in Margolis and Guiton, editors, Public Economics.
  • ""An Economic Interpretation of Optimal Control Theory", 1969, AER.
  • "Incidence of the Benefits and Costs of Environmental Programs", 1977, AER
  • "A Formula for the Gini Coefficient", 1979, REStat.
HET

 
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Resources on Robert Dorfman

 

 
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