Herbert Scarf papers, 1951-2015

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Summary

Creator:
Scarf, Herbert E.
Abstract:
Herbert Scarf (1930-2015) was the Sterling Professor Emeritus of Economics at Yale University. This collection primarily documents his professional life through his correspondence, writings, research, and professional and faculty activities. It was acquired as part of the Economists' Papers Archive.
Extent:
33 Linear Feet (22 boxes.)
1 Megabytes (One set.)
Language:
Material in English.
Collection ID:
RL.11619

Background

Scope and content:

This collection documents Scarf's career as an economist and mathematician. It provides an overview of his professional activities, particularly his research and writings on the computation of economic equilibrium and fixed points, stability of general equilibrium, the core of many-person games and its relation to general equilibrium, integer programming, and problems of production with indivisibilities.

This collection also documents Scarf's collaborations and communications with prominent economists and mathematicians such as Kenneth Arrow, Gerard Debreu, Ralph Gomory, Terje Hansen, Werner Hildenbrand, Tjalling Koopmans, Harold Kuhn, Lloyd Shapley, John Shoven, Martin Shubik, John Whalley, and many others.

Along with his own scholarship and writings, the collection documents Scarf's leadership roles in the American Economic Association, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, and other organizations; and his departmental roles, committee work, and teaching contributions in the economics, operations research, and applied mathematics programs at Yale University.

Biographical / historical:

Herbert Eli Scarf (1930-2015) was a white American academic economist and mathematician who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and died in Sag Harbor, New York. He earned a BA in mathematics at Temple University in 1951 and a PhD in mathematics from Princeton University in 1954. He worked at the RAND Corporation in the Mathematics and Economics Departments from 1954-1957 before becoming an Assistant Professor of Statistics at Stanford University in 1957. He joined the Economics Department at Yale University and the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics in 1963, where he remained for the remainder of his career as the Stanley Resor Professor of Economics (1970-1978) and the Sterling Professor of Economics (1979-2015). He was awarded the Frederick W. Lanchester Prize (1973) and the John von Neumann Theory Prize (1983) by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and served as president of the Econometric Society in 1983.

A primary focus of Scarf's research was the computation of economic equilibrium and fixed points, which serves as the basis for applied general equilibrium models. He also made significant contributions to understanding the stability of general equilibrium, the core of many-person games and its relation to general equilibrium, integer programming, and economic production with indivisibilities. Much of his work is a precursor to modern computational and simulation approaches to economics. His wife, Maggie Scarf, is the author of several award-winning books on family relationships and marriage.

Acquisition information:
The Herbert Scarf papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library as a gift in 2017.
Processing information:

Processed by Jonathan Cogliano, May 2018.

Electronic records processed by Paula Jeannet, September 2020.

Accession described in this collection guide: 2017-0012.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

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Restrictions:

Access note. Collection contains electronic records that require special equipment. Contact Research Services with questions.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Herbert Scarf papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m13655