Sir Roy George Douglas Allen,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, FBA (3 June 1906 – 29 September 1983) was an English

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and statistician, also member of the International Statistical Institute.

Life

Allen was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

and educated at the

Royal Grammar School Worcester The Royal Grammar School Worcester (also known as RGS Worcester or RGSW) is an eleven-eighteen mixed, independent day school and sixth form in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Founded before 1291, it is one of the oldest British independent d ...

, from which he won a scholarship to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He gained a

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in Mathematics, ranking top of his year as the Senior Wrangler. He became a lecturer at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

(LSE) later becoming Professor of Statistics. He wrote many papers and books on mathematical economics including the famous paper on ''A Reconsideration of the Theory of Value'' published in ''

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

'' in 1934 with Sir

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economi ...

. Other books include: ''Mathematical Analysis for Economists'' (1938), ''Statistics for Economists'' (1949), ''Mathematical Economics'' (1956), and ''Macroeconomic Theory'' (1967). Allen was knighted in 1966 for his services to economics and became president of the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

, who awarded him the

Guy Medal The Guy Medals are awarded by the Royal Statistical Society in three categories; Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Silver and Bronze medals are awarded annually. The Gold Medal was awarded every three years between 1987 and 2011, but is awarded biennia ...

in Gold in 1978. He was also treasurer of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

of which he was a fellow (FBA). He introduced the concept of " partial elasticity of substitution" to economics in his famous 1938 book ''Mathematical Analysis for Economists''. Allen became a fellow of Sidney Sussex, Cambridge and died in 1983. He had a son, Jeremy, who was a co-founder of the consultancy International Planning and Research, and a grandson, Dion.

Publications (selection)

* "The Nature of Indifference Curves", 1934, RES. * "The Concept of the Arc Elasticity of Demand", 1934, RES * "A Reconsideration of the Theory of Value", 1934, Economica, Part II 1(2), pp
196-219.
(Part I by J.R. Hicks) * Family Expenditure with A.L. Bowley, 1935. * Mathematical Analysis for Economists, 1938. 1st-page chapte
links.
Review fragments by J.R. Hick

and Carl F. Christ (1st paragraph

* "The Supply of Engineering Labor under Boom Conditions", with B. Thomas, 1939, Economic Journal. * Statistics for Economists, 1949. Review by Wilhelm Winkler

(German). * "Index Numbers of Retail Prices, 1938-51", 1952, Applied Statistics. * Mathematical Economics, 1956. Review fragments by Oskar Morgenstern

C.F. Carte

and Carl F. Christ (2nd and 3rd para.

* Macroeconomic Theory, 1967. * "On Official Statistics and Official Statisticians", 1970, J of Royal Statistical Society. * Index Numbers in Theory and Practice, 1975. * Introduction to National Accounts Statistics, 1980.

References

Sources

;Obituaries * E. Grebenik Roy George Douglas Allen 1906–1983,

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society The ''Journal of the Royal Statistical Society'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of statistics. It comprises three series and is published by Wiley for the Royal Statistical Society. History The Statistical Society of London was founded ...

. Series A (General), Vol. 147, No. 5 (1984), pp. 706–707. * Obituary: Sir Roy Allen, CBE, FBA (1906-1983,The Statistician, Vol. 33, No. 4 (Dec., 1984), pp. 401–406. (includes list of Allen's publications.)

External links

New School: Roy G. D. Allen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Roy George Douglas 1906 births 1983 deaths Academics of the London School of Economics Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English economists Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Scientists from Worcester, England Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society Knights Bachelor People educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester 20th-century English mathematicians 20th-century British economists Fellows of the Econometric Society Presidents of the Econometric Society