Arthur Lewis

Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences

1979
Sir Arthur Lewis

The prize was divided equally between: THEODORE W. SCHULTZ and SIR ARTHUR LEWIS for their pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries.

Sir Arthur Lewis (1915-91) was a student at LSE from 1934-37 and a member of staff from 1938-48. He was a Reader in Colonial Economics at resignation. As an economist he specialised in economic growth, development, and planning theory and policy. A humane man, he remained conscious of the human costs associated with economic growth. Like many LSE academics, Lewis served in the Civil Service during the war, first as a Principal in the Board of Trade and then in the Colonial Office. He was a member of the UN group of experts for underdeveloped countries from 1950-52. Publications include Economic Survey, 1918-1939 (1949), The Theory of Economic Growth (1949), Development Planning: The Essentials of Economic Planning (1966), and The Evolution of the International Economic Order (1977).