Knowra Kenneth Arrow Kenneth Arrow Kenneth Arrow (1921–2017) was an American economist whose work reshaped social choice theory, general equilibrium, welfare economics, and information economics. He shared the 1972 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
Social choice theory : The study of how individual preferences can be aggregated into collective decisions. Arrow established its central impossibility result by testing rules for turning rankings into social choices.
Arrow's impossibility theorem : A theorem showing that no ranked voting rule satisfies a specified set of fairness conditions for three or more alternatives. It is Arrow’s best-known demonstration that collective rankings face unavoidable trade-offs.
Social Choice and Individual Values : Kenneth Arrow’s 1951 book presenting his impossibility theorem and axiomatic analysis of social decision rules. This book introduced the result that became the foundation of his social-choice legacy.
Uncertainty and the Welfare Economics of Medical Care : Kenneth Arrow’s 1963 article analyzing uncertainty, insurance, professional ethics, and market failures in medical care. It applied his welfare analysis to a market where illness and treatment outcomes are uncertain.
Condorcet paradox : A voting paradox in which pairwise majority preferences can form a cycle despite each voter having consistent rankings. It illustrates collective-choice instability that Arrow’s theorem generalizes into an axiomatic impossibility.
General equilibrium theory : The study of how prices and quantities across interdependent markets can jointly balance supply and demand. Arrow helped give this theory a rigorous existence proof with Gérard Debreu.
Arrow–Debreu model : A mathematical model of an economy with markets for goods differentiated by time, place, and uncertain state. It formalized competitive equilibrium across contingent commodities, extending Arrow’s equilibrium work.
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences : An international prize awarded annually for contributions to economic science. Arrow shared the 1972 award with John Hicks for contributions to general economic equilibrium theory and welfare theory.
Health economics : The study of how health care is produced, financed, distributed, and used. Arrow’s medical-care article helped establish the field’s economic analysis of uncertainty and institutions.
Gibbard–Satterthwaite theorem : A theorem showing that every non-dictatorial, deterministic voting rule with at least three outcomes can be manipulated under broad conditions. It exposes a different limitation of voting systems: strategic manipulation rather than inconsistent fairness axioms.
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