Howard Scott Gordon (1924–2019) was a Canadian economist. His seminal 1954 article ''Economic Theory of a Common Property Resource: The Fishery'' marked the beginning of the modern economics study of fisheries. He spent most of his career teaching and writing in the history and philosophy of economics.

Life

Gordon was born in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

. He gained his undergraduate degree from Dalhousie University in 1944. He was an economics graduate student at Columbia University and McGill University. He was a lecturer in economics at McGill in 1947-1948. He then joined the recently established

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling ...

(now Carleton University) in Ottawa. He helped found the Economics Department at Carleton University and chaired the department from 1948 to 1966. He was a professor at the department of economics at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

from 1966 to 1988. He chaired the Economics Department at IU from 1970 to 1973. From 1983 he had a split appointment with the History and Philosophy of Science Department. He retired in 1988. Gordon taught summer courses in the history of economic theory at Queen's University from 1970 until 1996.

Fishing quotas

Scott's most well-known and seminal research on the

tragedy of the commons Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

was found in a 1954

Journal of Political Economy The ''Journal of Political Economy'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. Established by James Laurence Laughlin in 1892, it covers both theoretical and empirical economics. In the past, the ...

paper ''The Economic Theory of Common Property Resource: The Fishery''. The role of

individual fishing quota Individual fishing quotas (IFQs), also known as "individual transferable quotas" (ITQs), are one kind of ''catch share'', a means by which many governments regulate fishing. The regulator sets a species-specific total allowable catch (TAC), typicall ...

s (IFQs), also known as "individual transferable quotas" (ITQs), was shown by Gordon in his original research about fishing economics.

Honors and legacy

Gordon's students included

Margaret Schabas Margaret Schabas (born 1954) is a Canadian philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia notable for her work in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the science of economics. Schabas has also publi ...

, and J. Alfred Broaddus. In ''Welfare, Property Rights and Economic Policy - Essays and Tributes in Honour of H. Scott Gordon'' by T.K. Rymes the author celebrates Gordon as one of "Canada's most distinguished social scientist and economics scholars." Rymes' book was cited in the ''International Journal of Transport Economics'' (1993). Gordon was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1964–1965. For the period of 1977-1978, Gordon served as president of the

Canadian Economics Association The Canadian Economics Association (CEA) is the academic association of Canadian economists. Its object is to advance economic knowledge through study and research, and to encourage informed discussion of economic questions. The Association will no ...

. His papers are in an archival repository at Indiana University. John Davis of

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

reviewed ''History of Philosophy of Social Science'' by H.Scott Gordon in the

Southern Economic Journal Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

Articles

Books

* * *

References

External links

H. Scott Gordon papers, 1947-1993
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, H. Scott 1924 births 2019 deaths Indiana University faculty 21st-century Canadian economists 20th-century Canadian economists