Armen Alchian Explained

Armen A. Alchian
Birth Date:12 April 1914
Birth Place:Fresno, California, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Field:Microeconomics
Property rights
Law and economics[1]
School Tradition:New Institutional Economics
Chicago School
Neoclassical economics
Doctoral Students:William F. Sharpe,[2] David R. Henderson,[3] Steven N. S. Cheung,[4] Jerry Jordan[5]
Influences:Adam Smith,[6] Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek
Education:Stanford University (BA, PhD)

Armen Albert Alchian (; April 12, 1914February 19, 2013) was an American economist who made major contributions to microeconomic theory and the theory of the firm. He spent almost his entire career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and is credited with turning its economics department into one of the country’s best. He is also known as one of the founders of new institutional economics, and widely acknowledged for his work on property rights.

Early life and education

Armen Albert Alchian was born on April 12, 1914, in Fresno, California, to Armenian-American parents. His father, Alexander H. Alchian (1884–1979),[7] was born in Erzurum, Ottoman Empire and emigrated to the U.S. in 1901,[8] while his mother Lily Normart (1889–1976) was born to Armenian immigrant parents in Fresno. Her parents were among the first Armenians to settle in the San Joaquin Valley and she was the first Armenian born in Fresno. His parents married in 1909,[9] and Armen had a younger brother, Robert Haig Alchian (1917–1995).[10] His father worked as a musician and a jeweler and the family was of "modest means." He grew up in the Armenian community, which was initially "subject to intense discrimination."[11] He himself was reportedly subject to anti-Armenian discrimination early in his life. In the 1920s his family hosted General Andranik, an Armenian national hero, in their home for several months.[12] Alchian was called "the Armenian Adam Smith" by Michael Intriligator.

Alchian attended Fresno High School, where he excelled academically and athletically. He initially enrolled in Fresno State College in 1932 and transferred to Stanford University in 1934, obtaining his bachelor's degree in 1936. He earned his PhD in philosophy from Stanford in 1943. His dissertation was titled "The Effects of Changes in the General Wage Structure." Anthony J. Culyer quoted Kenneth Arrow as saying that Alchian was the "brightest economics student Stanford ever had."

Career

Alchian worked as a teaching assistant at Stanford (1937–40), and then in 1940–41 he worked at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Harvard University and in 1942 at the University of Oregon as an instructor. He went on to serve in the Army Air Forces as a statistician between 1942 and 1946.

Alchian joined the Department of Economics at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1946. He was initially assistant professor (until 1952), then associate professor (until 1958), and eventually named professor in 1958. He retired from UCLA in 1984 and was named professor emeritus of economics. It was not until 2007, at the age of 93, that he closed his campus office.

In classroom, Alchian adopted the Socratic method and disliked the traditional lecture method. James M. Buchanan, briefly a colleague in the late 1960s, classified Alchian as "the best blackboard economist" he had ever known. In 2006 John Riley, chair of the UCLA economics department, stated that Alchian was the "father of the modern-day economics department at UCLA, and set the future for it." William R. Allen noted that the department's "golden age" was from 1950 to 1980 because of Alchian's presence and leadership in the department.

Alchian was also affiliated with the RAND Corporation between 1946 and 1964 and was a consultant to business firms. At RAND, he is remembered for his work on the hidden costs of regulation. Alchian was the first economist to be employed at RAND and "became the conduit through which many Chicago stalwarts such as Ronald Coase, Gary Becker, and others received lucrative consultancies from RAND."[13] Alchian was also involved for around 20 years with the Law and Economics Center, initially affiliated with the University of Rochester, which provided "insight into economic theory to legal scholars and judges." Timothy Muris opined that Alchian was "unexcelled in teaching economics to lawyers."

Research

Alchian, an applied economist, has been described by Robert Higgs as a master of applied price theory. Alchian was a neoclassical economist,[14] [15] specifically of the Chicago School.[16] [17] Along with Harold Demsetz, Alchian is considered to be the founder of the "UCLA tradition",[18] alternatively known as the Los Angeles School. Read explains: "Theirs is a school which shares some similarities with Chicago’s emphasis on the free market, Harvard’s tradition of institutional studies, and the strategic thrust of both the RAND Corporation and of the Hoover Institution, to which both contributed intellectually."

Alchian was also influenced by the Austrian School, especially by the ideas of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.[19] [20] He was influenced by Mises' Human Action (1949).[21] Alchian famously interviewed Hayek in 1978,[22] [23] during which Alchian told him that he was particularly influenced by two of his articles: "Economics and Knowledge" (1937) and "The Use of Knowledge in Society" (1945).[24] In his turn, Alchian has influenced contemporary Austrian School economists.[25]

Alchian, along with James M. Buchanan and Ronald Coase, served as a bridge between the "Old" and "New" Chicago School. Boettke and Candela argue that these three economists founded the following branches in economics: New Institutional Economics, Law and Economics, and the economics of property rights. Indeed, Alchian is widely considered one of the founders of the New Institutional Economics. According to Robert Higgs Alchian had the greatest influence, aside from Coase, "in creating and fostering what has come to be known as the New Institutional Economics, one of the most notable improvements in mainstream economics during the past half century."

A large portion of Alchian's contribution is in property rights.[26] [27] Henderson argued that Alchian has been most impactful on the economic analysis of property rights and summarized his work on it as follows: "You tell me the rules and I'll tell you what outcomes to expect." Alchian opined that "In essence, economics is the study of property rights over resources."[28] Peter Boettke noted in 2015 that Alchian is "recognized as the founder of what was called 'property rights economics' in which he had to re-introduce to the economics profession the important role that property rights play in the determination of economic performance."

While working at RAND in 1954, Alchian conducted the first event study to infer what kind of fuel material was used in the development of hydrogen bombs, the construction of which were secret at the time. He successfully identified lithium as the fusion fuel through publicly available financial data, finding only the stock of Lithium Corporation of America suddenly increased around the hydrogen bomb test Castle Bravo. However, the paper was confiscated and destroyed because it was seen as a threat to national security.[29]

Notable publications

See also: Alchian–Allen effect. Alchian was not prolific and did not author many books and articles. However, his few published works are widely cited. His writing style is characterized with lack of mathematical formality and is known for its straightforward prose. Harold Demsetz noted that his works are "largely uncluttered with mathematics." Henderson praised his clear writing, noting that Alchian was "one of the last economists of his generation to communicate mainly in words and not equations." According to Susan L. Woodward he "had no use for formal models that did not teach us to look somewhere new in the known world, nor had he any patience for findings that relied on fancy econometrics."

In 1964 Alchian and William R. Allen co-authored University Economics, an influential general textbook that has undergone six editions under two titles. It appeared in 1969 under the name Exchange and Production, and was published a third time in 2018 as Universal Economics.[30] Mark Blaug described it as standing out "among all of its rivals by a consistent emphasis on the actual or potential role of markets as a device for organising economic life."

The collection of his works was first published in 1977 by Liberty Fund under the title Economic Forces at Work, which contains his main 18 papers. In 2006 Liberty Fund published The Collected Works of Armen A. Alchian in two volumes.

His most significant articles are:

Views

Alchian has been described as a classical liberal[39] and libertarian.[40] He advocated laissez-faire principles and free-market individualism.[41] [42] He was a member of the Mont Pelerin Society.[43] Axel Leijonhufvud argued that Alchian was skeptical of people who claim they will improve the world by using the powers of the government, but also those calling for abolishing government.

Alchian listed "self-reliance, independence, responsibility, integrity and trust" as the principles and rules of capitalism and argued that these are antithetical to socialism/communism. Alchian believed Keynesianism "totally neglects incentives."[44] Alchian was a friend of Milton Friedman[45] and Friedman often quoted him: "The one thing you can be most sure of in this life is that everyone will spend someone else’s money more liberally than they will spend their own."[46]

In the 1960s, Alchian told Eastern Bloc economists that they had to "introduce more private property rights to make markets work the way you think they should work" or else the market allocation will seem to be "perverse or deficient."[47] David Riesman noted that Alchian, like Friedman and Hayek, was "confident about the causal relationships that run from evolution to capitalism, from capitalism to meliorism."[48] One left-wing commentator described Alchian as an "ultra-liberal" economist who vigorously defended the idea that capitalism is characterised by the absence of any substantial power relations between individuals.[49] Alchian was apparently influenced by neo-Darwinism.[50] He, like Friedman, "invoked Darwinism to prove that the market economy is natural."[51] Alchian was critical of minimum wage laws.[52] [53] During the 1970s energy crisis, Alchian argued for lifting of gas price controls.[54]

Alchian famously asserted that "95% of the material in economics journals was wrong or irrelevant".[55]

Personal life and death

Alchian resided in Mar Vista, Los Angeles. In 1940 he married Pauline (née Crouse, 1916–2017),[56] an elementary school teacher, who he had met at Stanford. They had two children: Arline Ann Hoel (b. 1943)[57] and Allen Alexander Alchian (b. 1947).[58]

Alchian was an "avid computer user" and an early adopter of email.[59]

Personality

William R. Allen described Alchian as "almost always soft-spoken, unaggressive, and seemingly bemused" and noted that he "eschewed ambitious self-promotion and personal empire-building." Daniel Benjamin described him as "fundamentally kind, shy, compassionate, and humble." William F. Sharpe wrote that Alchian was "personally gentle and traditional," but was "clearly an eccentric economic theorist." Deirdre McCloskey described Alchian as "the soul of courtesy." She wrote that "talking about economics with Armen Alchian is like talking about painting with Pablo Picasso" and that his economics "comes from experience of life."[60] Tom G. Palmer wrote of Alchian as a "sober scholar, but not so charismatic."[61] Susan L. Woodward described him as a "warm and sentimental person." Roger Farmer described him as "selfless" and "amazing human being" who cared "only about promoting ideas."[62] Steven N.S. Cheung wrote that he "never engaged in self-promotion, and he never cared about journal rankings" and was a "modest gentleman". He quoted Coase: "Alchian is classical in manners as well as in thought."

Golf

Alchian was a lifelong golfer and a regular visitor to the Rancho Park Golf Course. He often played golf with fellow economist George Stigler. He greatly admired the sport and wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal in 1977, in which he argued that golf is "not merely a sport. It is an activity, a lifestyle, a behavior, a manifestation of the essential human spirit. Golf's ethic, principles, rules and procedures of play are totally capitalistic. They are antithetical to socialism. Golf requires self-reliance, independence, responsibility, integrity and trust."[63] [64] He preferred to stay home and play golf than to partake in a conference called by President Gerald Ford to "Whip Inflation Now" as it would be "more productive than anything likely to be said in Washington."

Last years and death

One of his last public appearances was in May 2006 at an international conference at the UCLA, organized by Richard G. Hovannisian, on the challenges of sustainable development in Armenia, which was dedicated to Alchian.[65] [12] [66] Around six years before his death Alchian's memory deteriorated according to Yoram Barzel. He suffered from a neurodegenerative disease in the last six years of his life.[4] Alchian died of natural causes, in his sleep, at his home in Los Angeles on February 19, 2013, at the age of 98.

Recognition and legacy

In 1985 Mark Blaug listed Alchian as one of the "Great Economists Since Keynes". In a 2011 survey of around 300 economics professors in the U.S., Alchian ranked 17th among favorite living economists older than 60. He received the same points as Robert Fogel and Gordon Tullock.[67] In 1984 Friedrich Hayek named Alchian and George Stigler his favorite economists "among the not really young ones." William R. Allen described him as "one of the superb economic analysts and teachers of the second half of the twentieth century." Walter E. Williams and Donald J. Boudreaux describe him as one of the top economists of the twentieth century and probably the greatest microeconomic theorist.

Nobel Prize debate

Alchian never received a Nobel Prize, but numerous economists, such as Hayek, Harry Markowitz, Michael Intriligator, William R. Allen, David R. Henderson,[68] Donald J. Boudreaux,[69] believe he deserved one. Hayek told Henderson in 1975: "There are two economists who deserve the Nobel prize because their work is important but won't get it because they didn't do a lot of work: Ronald Coase and Armen Alchian." Allen nominated Alchian for the Nobel Prize in 1986 and characterized him as "a giant who, because of his lack of pretension, is easily overlooked by laymen and even by some supposed professionals—who has greatly honored his profession and uniquely contributed to its usefulness." Axel Leijonhufvud, who was a student and colleague of Alchian for thirty years, suggested in 1996 that "his lack of self-promotion and his abstentiousness from it I think is what more than anything else has kept him from the Nobel prize so far. I can find no other explanation of the behavior of my countrymen."

Influence

A number of economists have been influenced by Alchian, including several Nobel laurates. Kenneth Arrow was "personally and intellectually closely linked" with Alchian and the latter's influence played a crucial role on Arrow's introduction of the concept of "learning curve" into an economic growth model.[70] James M. Buchanan was inspired by Alchian's work on free tuition.[71] William F. Sharpe, who took a graduate course taught by Alchian in 1956, named him one of his three mentors, whose approach to research he had attempted to emulate.[72] Sharpe called him a "brilliant mind grappling (usually very successfully) with the most difficult concepts in economics in thoroughly creative and innovative ways." Elinor Ostrom, an undergraduate student of Alchian, noted that as an institutional theorist, she "really appreciate[s] Alchian’s approach" in the 1950 article "Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory".[73] Walter E. Williams called him one of his "tenacious mentors." William R. Allen named Alchian one of the two individuals who had had the greatest influence on his life, calling him "an older brother."[74] John Lott stated that University Economics was responsible for him becoming an academic and going to UCLA.

Other noted economists who were students of or were influenced by Alchian include Harold Demsetz,[75] Steve Hanke,[76] Henry Manne,[77] Yoram Barzel,[78] David Prychitko,[79] Anthony J. Culyer, Karl Brunner, Arthur De Vany,[80] Jerry Jordan,[81] Douglas W. Allen,[82] Axel Leijonhufvud, Robert H. Topel.

Hubbard argues that Alchian's 1972 paper "Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization" influenced works in the economics of organization by Bengt Holmström, Oliver Hart, and Paul Milgrom.

Honors

Honorary doctorates
Tributes

See also

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. News: Marcus . Morton . What 'let us assume' wording leaves out . . May 18, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210831163612/https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/business/2014/05/18/what-let-us-assume-wording-leaves-ou/46610023/ . 31 August 2021. His work, along with that of others including, notably, Armen Alchian of UCLA, became the backbone for the merged study of law and economics..
  2. Web site: Wolpert . Stuart . Nobel Laureate William F. Sharpe Awarded UCLA Medal at Ceremony Honoring UCLA Economists . newsroom.ucla.edu . UCLA Newsroom . November 5, 1998 . Sharpe, who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1990, was a student of Alchian at UCLA and considered him to be a valuable role model as well as his thesis adviser.. https://web.archive.org/web/20170725130301/https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/Nobel-Laureate-William-F-Sharpe-1185 . 2017-07-25 .
  3. Book: Henderson . David R. . Hooper . Charles L. . David R. Henderson . Making Great Decisions in Business and Life . 2006 . Park Press . Chicago . 978-0976854104 . 16 . I (DRH) ... learned this as a Ph.D. student of noted UCLA economist Armen Alchian..
  4. Web site: Cheung . Steven N.S. . Steven N.S. Cheung . Fred K. Luk . Kam-Ming Wan . Chi-Wa Yuen . Michael T. Cheung . Eulogy on Armen Alchian by Steven N.S. Cheung . . zh . February 21, 2013. (Archived English version) "My doctoral dissertation, The Theory of Share Tenancy, was written under the co-supervision of Armen Alchian and Jack Hirshleifer."
  5. Web site: Universal Economics . libertyfund.org . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200111185351/https://www.libertyfund.org/books/universal-economics . 11 January 2020 . Jerry L. Jordan wrote his doctoral dissertation under the direction of Armen Alchian..
  6. De Vany . Arthur . Arthur De Vany . Information, Chance, and Evolution: Alchian and the Economics of Self-Organization . . July 1996 . 34 . 3 . 427 . Smith and Hayek described it; Alchian gave the evolutionary proof.. 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1996.tb01387.x .
  7. "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPC3-8M1 : 26 November 2014), Alex H Alchian, 06 Feb 1979; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
  8. "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH3P-G93 : 31 January 2021), Alexander Alchian, 1920.
  9. "California Marriages, 1850–1945", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H9W8-2L3Z : 24 March 2020), Alexander H. Alchian, 1909.
  10. "Florida Death Index, 1877–1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVCS-BG4 : 25 December 2014), Robert Haig Alchian, 01 Jun 1995; from "Florida Death Index, 1877–1998," index, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : 2004); citing vol., certificate number 69005, Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, Jacksonville.
  11. Book: Alchian . Armen Albert . Economic Forces at Work . 1977 . Liberty Press . 978-0913966358 . 8.
  12. News: "The Armenian Adam Smith": UCLA Holds Conference in Honor of Armenian Economist . . May 26, 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220907190223/https://asbarez.com/the-armenian-adam-smith-ucla-holds-conference-in-honor-of-armenian-economist/ . 7 September 2022 .
  13. Book: Nik-Khah . Edward . Van Horn . Robert . Mirowski . Philip . Stapleford . Thomas A. . Philip Mirowski . Building Chicago Economics: New Perspectives on the History of America's Most Powerful Economics Program . 2011 . . 978-1139004077 . George Stigler, the Graduate School of Business, and the Pillars of the Chicago School. 247.
  14. DiQuattro . Arthur . The Market and Liberal Values . . May 1980 . 8 . 2 . 188 . 10.1177/009059178000800204. 190794. 148206353 . Consider what two important neoclassicists tell students in their introductory text, Exchange and Production: Theory in Use. Alchian and Allen write....
  15. Book: Tieben . Bert . The Concept of Equilibrium in Different Economic Traditions: A Historical Investigation . 2009 . Rozenberg Publishers . 978-9036101097 . 486 . In the 1950s, this conclusion provoked a response from the defenders of the neoclassical theory of the firm like Alchian (1950) and Friedman (1953)....
  16. Book: Mayhew . Anne . Narrating the Rise of Big Business in the USA: How Economists Explain Standard Oil and Wal-Mart . 2008 . . 9781135973445 . 79 . ...Armen Alchian, a widely respected economic theorist associated with the Chicago School....
  17. Book: McCloskey . Deirdre N. . Deirdre McCloskey . Knowledge and Persuasion in Economics . 1994 . . 978-0521436038 . 160 . ...that Chicago economists such as Ronald Coase and Armen Alchian....
  18. Web site: Armen A. Alchian . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200107192839/http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=1639 . 7 January 2020.
  19. Web site: Boettke . Pete . Pete Boettke . Boettke on Mises . EconTalk . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190228012411/http://www.econtalk.org/boettke-on-mises/ . 28 February 2019 . December 27, 2010 . ...Alchian got a lot of those arguments from Hayek and Mises..
  20. News: O’Driscoll . Jerry . There is no such thing as macroeconomics. . . September 9, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170610080053/http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/ThinkMarkets/2010/0909/There-is-no-such-thing-as-macroeconomics. . 10 June 2017 . ...the UCLA tradition as by Mises and Hayek. Mises and Hayek had an important influence on that tradition, however..
  21. Web site: Manne . Henry . Henry Manne . Alchian's connections with Austrian economics . coordinationproblem.org . Coordination Problem . https://web.archive.org/web/20210914143207/https://www.coordinationproblem.org/2011/01/economists-used-to-believe-this.html . 14 September 2021 . January 18, 2011 . Armen Alchian's connections with Austrian economics, I also have some trivia. I first met Armen at a small conference in 1958 at which he presented a first draft of what became the seminal "Some Economics of Property Rights." He began his lecture with a lengthy quote from Mises' Human Action..
  22. Book: Nobel-Prize Winning Economist Interviews . 1983 . . 362–429 . Tape: Alchian (November 11, 1978).
  23. Web site: Armen A. Alchian interviews Friedrich A. Hayek (Part I) . The Hayek Interviews . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200110161410/http://hayek.ufm.edu/index.php?title=Armen_A._Alchian . 10 January 2020 . November 11, 1978.
  24. Book: Ebenstein . Alan . Alan O. Ebenstein . Hayek's Journey: The Mind of Friedrich Hayek . 2003 . . 1403960380 . 107.
  25. Book: Ardalan . Kavous . Case Method and Pluralist Economics: Philosophy, Methodology and Practice . 2018 . Springer . 978-3319720708 . 189 . Contemporary Austrian school economists reflect a more diverse mix of intellectual traditions in economic science as they have been influenced by modern figures in economics, such as Armen Alchian....
  26. Web site: Alchian . Armen A. . Property Rights . Library of Economics and Liberty . . https://web.archive.org/web/20191114021010/https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/PropertyRights.html . 14 November 2019. About the Author: Most of his major scientific contributions are in the economics of property rights..
  27. Foss . Nicolai J. . Nicolai J. Foss . Economics, Institutions and Ludwig Von Mises . . 1997 . 9 . 1 . 83 . Menger and Bohm-Bawerk are among the few economists to discuss property rights before Coase, Alchian and Demsetz in the 1960s laid the foundation for the property rights approach.. 10.1177/092137409700900105 . 143218062 .
  28. Pejovich . Svetozar . Comment on Paper by Alchian and Demsetz . . 1973 . 33 . 1 . 41–42 . 2117140 . 10.1017/S0022050700076427 . 155012746 .
  29. Newhard. Joseph Michael. 2014-08-01. The stock market speaks: How Dr. Alchian learned to build the bomb. Journal of Corporate Finance. en. 27. 116–132. 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2014.05.002. 0929-1199.
  30. Web site: Universal Economics . 2024-08-12 . Liberty Fund . en-US.
  31. Alchian . Armen A. . Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory . . June 1950 . 58 . 3 . 211–221 . 1827159. Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory . 10.1086/256940 . 36045710 .
  32. Alchian . Armen . Reliability of Progress Curves in Airframe Production . . October 1963 . 31 . 4 . 679–693 . 10.2307/1909166 . 1909166 .
  33. Book: Mishina . Kazuhiro . Lamoreaux . Naomi R. . Raff . Daniel M. G. . Temin . Peter . Learning by Doing in Markets, Firms, and Countries . 1999 . . 145 . Learning by New Experiences: Revisiting the Flying Fortress Learning Curve . https://web.archive.org/web/20211127214503/https://www.nber.org/system/files/chapters/c10232/c10232.pdf . 27 November 2021 . dead.
  34. Argote . Linda . Epple . Dennis . Linda Argote . Dennis Epple . Learning Curves in Manufacturing . . 1990 . 247 . 4945 . 920–924 . 10.1126/science.247.4945.920 . 17776451 . 1990Sci...247..920A . 21055499 .
  35. Alchian . Armen A. . Information Costs, Pricing, and Resource Unemployment . . June 1969 . 7 . 2 . 109–128 .
  36. Alchian . Armen A. . Demsetz . Harold . Harold Demsetz . Production, Information Costs, and Economic Organization . . December 1972 . 62 . 5 . 777–795 . 1815199 .
  37. Book: Torgler . Benno . Piatti . Marco . A Century of American Economic Review: Insights on Critical Factors in Journal Publishing . 2013 . . 978-1349462049 . 23 . Top Institutions, Top Papers and Leading Economists Publishing in AER. 10.1057/9781137333056_2.
  38. Kim . E. Han . Morse . Adair . Zingales . Luigi . What Has Mattered to Economics since 1970 . . 2006 . 20 . 4 . 189–202 . 30033690 . 10.1257/jep.20.4.189 . free . 2027.42/48735 . free .
  39. Hall . Joshua C. . Lawson . Robert A. . Economic Freedom Of The World: An Accounting Of The Literature . . January 2014 . 32 . 1 . 2 . ...classical-liberal scholars including Armen Alchian, Peter Bauer, Gary Becker.... 10.1111/coep.12010 . 154941466 .
    • Web site: Boettke . Peter . Peter Boettke . Pivotal People at Pivotal Times: John Blundell . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181202100349/https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/thinkpieces/pivotal-people-at-pivotal-times-john-blundell . 2 December 2018 . 9 June 2015 . The international movement for classical liberalism... [...] ...to advance the ideas of liberty – the intellectual heritage of [...] of Alchian ....
    • Book: Ashford . Nigel . Davies . Stephen . Nigel Ashford . A Dictionary of Conservative and Libertarian Thought . 2012 . . 978-1136708336 . 280 . Conservatives and classical liberals cited in the text.
  40. Book: Chickering . A. Lawrence . Lawrence Chickering . Beyond Left and Right: Breaking the Political Stalemate . 1993 . Institute for Contemporary Studies . 978-1558152090 . 33 . ...the libertarian economist Armen Alchian....
  41. Book: Hodgson . Geoffrey M. . Geoffrey Hodgson . Evolution and Institutions: On Evolutionary Economics and the Evolution of Economics . 1999 . . 162 . ...the kind of Panglossian and laissez-faire conclusions that Alchian and Friedman had proposed..
  42. Book: Meister . Robert . After Evil: A Politics of Human Rights . 2012 . . 978-0231150378 . 236 . ...Alchian's free market individualism....
    • Book: Machan . Tibor R. . Tibor Machan . Human Rights and Human Liberties: A Radical Reconsideration of the American Political Tradition . 1975 . Nelson-Hall Publishers . Chicago . 978-0882291598 . 258 . To name just a few who are now engaged in research and analysis pointing to a free market approach to the problems facing us, the ranks include Milton Friedman, Yale Brozen, Harold Demsetz, Armen Alchian... .
    • News: Poole . Robert . Spotlight: Henry G. Manne . . May 1976 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210906112532/https://reason.com/1976/05/01/spotlight-8/ . 6 September 2021 . Bringing in such distinguished free-market economists as UCLA's Armen Alchian....
  43. Web site: Mont Pelerin Society . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200109145632/https://www.desmogblog.com/mont-pelerin-society . 9 January 2020 . Armen A. Alchian (1914-2013) 1957.
  44. Individual and Business Tax Reduction Proposals. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Taxation and Debt Management Generally of the Committee on Finance. United States Senate. Ninety-Fifth Congress, Second Session. July 14, 1978. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, 1978. p. 83
  45. Book: Friedman . Milton . Milton Friedman . Why Government Is the Problem . 1993 . . 978-0817954437 . 8 . My old friend Armen Alchian....
  46. News: Brunie . Charles H. . My Friend, Milton Friedman . . April 11, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200108193351/https://www.city-journal.org/html/my-friend-milton-friedman-10239.html . 8 January 2020.
  47. Schroeder . Gertrude E. . Property rights issues in economic reforms in socialist countries . Studies in Comparative Communism . Summer 1988 . 21 . 2 . 175–188 . 10.1016/0039-3592(88)90012-9 .
  48. Book: Riesman . David . David Riesman . Conservative Capitalism: The Social Economy . 1999 . . 978-0333982785. 149.
  49. Palermo . Giulio . 54869425 . Misconceptions of power: From Alchian and Demsetz to Bowles and Gintis . . 2007 . 31 . 2 . 147–185 . 10.1177/030981680709200107 . Conference of Socialist Economists. 11379/35559 . free .
  50. Book: England . Richard W. . Evolutionary Concepts in Contemporary Economics . 1994 . . 978-0472104833 . 11.
  51. Watkins . John P. . Towards a Reconsideration of Social Evolution: Symbiosis and Its Implications for Economics . . 1998 . 32 . 1 . 91 . 10.1080/00213624.1998.11506013 . 4227280 .
  52. Web site: Young . Ryan . What Do Economists Think about the Minimum Wage? . cei.org . . https://web.archive.org/web/20220217232142/https://cei.org/blog/what-do-economists-think-about-the-minimum-wage/ . 17 February 2022 . March 5, 2019.
  53. Henderson . David R. . David R. Henderson . Up From Poverty . . Summer 2012 . 68 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20210918155804/https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/regulation/2012/8/v35n2-8.pdf#page=4 . 2021-09-18 . ...Armen Alchian ... recommended that he read studies ... about how minimum wage laws dried up job opportunities for unskilled workers..
  54. News: Alchian . Armen A. . Lift price controls, gas shortage would end . . 17 June 1979 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231028193019/https://books.google.am/books?id=NhdUAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA18&dq=Armen+alchian&article_id=6766,3076302&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwid_uvM_q6AAxXtS_EDHeoJA4UQ6AF6BAgOEAM#v=onepage&q=Armen%20alchian&f=false . 28 October 2023.
  55. Hanke . Steve H. . Steve H. Hanke . Remembrances of a. Currency Reformer: Some Notes and Sketches from the Field . Studies in Applied Economics . June 2016 . 55 . 2 . Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and Study of Business Enterprise. https://web.archive.org/web/20220202181257/https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/remembrances_of_a_currency_reformer.pdf . 2022-02-02 .
  56. Web site: Obituaries . stanfordmag.org . STANFORD magazine . https://web.archive.org/web/20210810030938/https://stanfordmag.org/contents/obituaries-september-2017 . 10 August 2021 . September 2017.
  57. "California Birth Index, 1905–1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2WF-ZDW : 27 November 2014), Arline Ann Alchian, 26 Apr 1943; citing Fresno, California, United States, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.
  58. "California Birth Index, 1905–1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V27G-N4Q : 27 November 2014), Allen Alexander Alchian, 27 Mar 1947; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.
  59. Web site: Levine . David K. . David K. Levine . Armen A. Alchian . dklevine.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20200108192918/http://www.dklevine.com/General/ALCHIAN.HTM . 8 January 2020.
  60. McCloskey . Deirdre N. . Deirdre McCloskey . Economic Tourism . . 1996 . 22 . 3 . 365–368 . 40325725 .
  61. Web site: Palmer . Tom G. . Tom G. Palmer . Oddballs vs. Scholars, For Negative Liberty, Against the Welfare State . cato-unbound.org . . https://web.archive.org/web/20170504162149/https://www.cato-unbound.org/2007/03/25/tom-g-palmer/oddballs-vs-scholars-negative-liberty-against-welfare-state . 4 May 2017 . March 25, 2007.
  62. Web site: Farmer . Roger E. A. . Roger Farmer . When I came to UCLA in 1987, Armen was winding down in terms of research output . . https://archive.today/20231027211520/https://twitter.com/farmerrf/status/1717669669354586273 . 27 October 2023 . 27 October 2023.
  63. News: Alchian . Armen A. . Of Golf, Capitalism and Socialism . . July 13, 1977 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200111181401/https://archive.lib.msu.edu/tic/flgre/article/1983spr28.pdf . 11 January 2020.
  64. Calcagno . Peter T. . Whitson . Whitney . Of Golf, Capitalism, and Socialism: An Empirical Analysis . Atlantic Economic Journal . June 2011 . 39 . 2 . 199–200 . 10.1007/s11293-011-9267-1 . 154796026 .
  65. Web site: Armenia: Challenges Of Sustainable Development . international.ucla.edu . UCLA International Institute . https://web.archive.org/web/20220731134059/https://international.ucla.edu/institute/event/4587 . 31 July 2022 . May 6, 2006.
  66. Web site: Conference on Armenia’s economic development in the University of California, Los Angeles . azad-hye.com . Azad-Hye Armenian Portal . https://web.archive.org/web/20210924210749/https://www.azad-hye.com/articles/conference-on-armenias-economic-development-in-the-university-of-california-los-angeles/ . 24 September 2021 . June 8, 2006.
  67. Davis. William L.. Figgins. Bob. Hedengren. David. Klein. Daniel B.. Daniel B. Klein . Economics Professors' Favorite Economic Thinkers, Journals, and Blogs (along with Party and Policy Views). Econ Journal Watch. May 2011. 8. 2. 137.
  68. News: Henderson . David R. . David R. Henderson . Nobel Econometricians . . October 9, 2003 . Three main candidates come to mind: Armen Alchian....
    • News: Henderson . David R. . David R. Henderson . Laureate Phelps . . October 12, 2006 . Grant the award to Armen Alchian (age 92), Gordon Tullock (84) or Arnold Harberger (82)..
  69. News: Schneiderman . R.M. . Reactions to the Nobel in Economic Science . economix.blogs.nytimes.com . . October 12, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210829230045/https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/reactions-to-the-nobel-prize-in-economics/ . 29 August 2021 .
  70. Ballandonne . Matthieu . Creating Increasing Returns: The Genesis of Arrow's "Learning by Doing" Article . . 2015 . 47 . 3 . 449–479 . 10.1215/00182702-3153140.
  71. Hall . Joshua C. . Academia in Anarchy: 50 years on . . 2020 . 183 . 3–4 . 407 . 10.1007/s11127-020-00793-7. 216398194 .
  72. Book: Lott Jr. . John R. . John R. Lott . Lott Jr. . John R. . Uncertainty and Economic Evolution: Essays in Honour of Armen Alchian . 1997 . . 187 . In celebration of Armen Alchian's eightieth birthday..
  73. Book: Ostrom . Elinor . Elinor Ostrom . Lecture I. Frameworks Lecture II. Analyzing One-Hundred Year-Old Irrigation Puzzles . February 2011 . 116 . https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/o/Ostrom_11.pdf . The Tanner Lectures on Human Values . Stanford University . The Tanner Lectures on Human Values . https://web.archive.org/web/20200723203653/https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/o/Ostrom_11.pdf . 23 July 2020.
  74. News: Lott, John . Spotlight: Economics Educator . . December 1978 . John R. Lott . https://web.archive.org/web/20220819091410/https://reason.com/1978/12/01/economics-educator/ . 19 August 2022.
  75. Demsetz . Harold . Harold Demsetz . An Appreciation of Armen A. Alchian's Contribution to the Theory of the Firm . . 143 . 1 . March 1987 . 3–6 . 40750949 .
  76. News: Hanke . Steve . Steve Hanke . Letter to the WSJ: Armen Alchian's Wise Economics . . . March 6, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200108195344/https://www.cato.org/blog/letter-wsj-armen-alchians-wise-economics . 8 January 2020.
  77. Web site: Henry G. Manne, '52, 1928–2015 . law.uchicago.edu . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200108182152/https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/henry-g-manne-52-1928-2015 . 8 January 2020. His intellectual heroes and intellectual peers were classical liberal economists like Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig Mises, Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz....
  78. Lueck . Dean . Yoram Barzel and the Economics of Institutions. Man and the Economy. 2019 . 5. 2 . 10.1515/me-2018-0011 . More generally Barzel has been heavily influenced by Armen Alchian and a great admirer of him.. 744224 . 158284820 .
  79. Web site: Prychitko . David L. . David Prychitko . That's Interesting, But Does It Pass The Alchian Test? . coordinationproblem.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20150914175747/http://www.coordinationproblem.org/2010/11/thats-nice-but-does-it-pass-the-alchian-test.html . 14 September 2015 . November 21, 2010. I was raised on Alchian & Allen, having learned most of my economics from two of Alchian's students from the 1960s, Phil May and Howard Swaine. Alchian ranks, with Mises and Hayek, among my favorite and, I believe, most insightful, economists..
  80. De Vany . Arthur . Arthur De Vany . Information, chance, and evolution: Alchian and the economics of self-organization . . 1996 . 34 . 3 . 428 . 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1996.tb01387.x . Alchian’s teaching shaped my understanding of economics..
  81. Jordan . Jerry L. . Jerry Jordan . Hayek in His Own Words . The Journal of Private Enterprise . 2017 . 32 . 1 . 2 . In a conversation with one of my teachers, Armen Alchian....
  82. Web site: Klein . Peter G. . Peter G. Klein . Doug Allen on Alchian . organizationsandmarkets.com . Organizations and Markets . https://web.archive.org/web/20210830195438/https://organizationsandmarkets.com/2013/02/19/doug-allen-on-alchian/ . 30 August 2021 . 19 February 2013. I only met Armen once, but his influence on me was profound..
  83. Web site: MONT PELERIN SOCIETY DIRECTORY – 2010 . . Professor Armen A. Alchian 1957, Life Member . 2020-01-12 . 2020-01-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200112151711/https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Mont%20Pelerin%20Society%20Directory%202010.pdf . dead .
  84. Web site: Past Presidents . 92nd Annual Conference Program . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200111103749/https://weai.org/assets/418.pdf . 11 January 2020 . 5 . June 2017.
  85. Web site: Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1780–2019 – A . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200109143951/https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2019-10/ChapterA.pdf . 9 January 2020 . Alchian, Armen Albert (1914–2013) Election: 1978, Fellow.
  86. Web site: Distinguished Fellows . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200109135529/https://www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/honors-awards/distinguished-fellows . 9 January 2020.
  87. Web site: Adam Smith Award . apee.org . . https://web.archive.org/web/20210927182614/https://www.apee.org/adam-smith-award/ . 27 September 2021.
  88. Web site: Rescuing Social Capital from Social Democracy . About the IEA . . https://web.archive.org/web/20191130204748/https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/upldbook420pdf.pdf . 30 November 2019 . 107 . Honorary Fellows: Professor Armen A Alchian.
  89. Commencement . Rochester Review . Summer 1983 . 20 . . When the 1983 Commencement finally ended, four weeks after it began, some 2,100 new degrees had been awarded, including three more honorary doctorates: to the distinguished economist Armen A. Alchian of the University of California at Los Angeles (at the GSM exercises).... https://web.archive.org/web/20200109202203/https://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/Databases/Attachments/Reviews/1983/45-4/1983_Summer.pdf . 2020-01-09 .
  90. Web site: Honorary Doctoral Degrees . ufm.edu . . May 8, 2010 ARMEN A. ALCHIAN. https://web.archive.org/web/20110501185429/https://www.ufm.edu/cms/es/honorary-doctoral-degrees . 2011-05-01 .
  91. Web site: Levine . David K. . David K. Levine . The Armen Alchian Chair in Economic Theory . dklevine.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20200111102307/http://www.dklevine.com/General/alchianchair.htm . 11 January 2020.
  92. Web site: Best Paper Awards . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200110193236/http://www.aea.am/awards.html . 10 January 2020.
  93. Takooshian . Harold . Harold Takooshian . Armenian-Americans in the Behavioral Sciences . Main Issues of Pedagogy and Psychology . 2020 . 18 . 2 . 8 . 10.24234/miopap.v18i2.374 . . 2024-04-25 . 1829-1295 . free .

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