Bagicha Singh Minhas (1929-2005) is an Indian economist.

Education

Minhas was born in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, and obtained his first degree of BSc (agriculture) from Khalsa College, Amritsar, and a Master's degree in economics from Punjab University. He then obtained another degree from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, USA, and followed it up with a PhD in economics from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, USA. He taught economics at Stanford as an

Assistant Professor Assistant Professor is an academic rank just below the rank of an associate professor used in universities or colleges, mainly in the United States and Canada. Overview This position is generally taken after earning a doctoral degree and general ...

, but later returned to India as a Research Professor and became Head of the Planning Division at the

Indian Statistical Institute Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a higher education and research institute which is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the 1959 act of the Indian parliament. It grew out of the Statistical Laboratory set up by Prasanta C ...

from 1971 to 1986.

Career

Minhas was a member of the Indian Planning Commission from 1971 to 1973. Simultaneously, in 1972–73, Minhas was appointed a member of the Finance Commission. He worked on planning strategies as well as

financial analysis Financial analysis (also known as financial statement analysis, accounting analysis, or analysis of finance) refers to an assessment of the viability, stability, and profitability of a business, sub-business or project. It is performed by profes ...

. Minhas worked as a Consultant to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

at Washington D.C. and the Statistics and Survey Division of the Food and Agricultural Organization (Rome). In 1976–78, he worked as a Senior Fellow at the

Institute of Development Studies The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a think tank affiliated with the University of Sussex in Brighton, England, and based on its campus in Falmer, East Sussex. It delivers research and teaching in the area of development studies, an ...

(IDS) at the University of Sussex in the UK and, a little later, he held appointments as Visiting Professor at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and as

Rufus Putnam Brigadier-General Rufus Putnam (April 9, 1738 – May 4, 1824) was an American military officer who fought during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. As an organizer of the Ohio Company of Associates, he was instrumental ...

Visiting Professor at Ohio. From 1981 to 1984, he served as Secretary General of the Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organization and also Chairman of the National

Sample Survey In statistics, quality assurance, and survey methodology, sampling is the selection of a subset (a statistical sample) of individuals from within a statistical population to estimate characteristics of the whole population. Statisticians attem ...

(NSS) Organization (1980–90). Minhas has been a Fellow of the

Econometric Society The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools to their field. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians or statisticians. ...

(1973), a National Fellow at the

Indian Council of Social Science Research The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It was established in New Delhi in 1969. Council The Council is currently chaired by Bhushan Patwardhan. Current ...

(1990–92) and a life member of the

American Economic Association The American Economic Association (AEA) is a learned society in the field of economics. It publishes several peer-reviewed journals acknowledged in business and academia. There are some 23,000 members. History and Constitution The AEA was esta ...

. From 1992 to 1993, he was the President of the Indian Economic Society and, from 1994 to 1998, the President of the Indian Association for Research in National Income & Wealth. The Financial Express Award for Economics 1999 was presented to Minhas at the Annual Conference of the Indian Economic Association at Amritsar on 27 December 1999. Minhas then received the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

Award in 2003 for science and engineering. Minhas was a co-author of a pioneering article deriving the

constant elasticity of substitution Constant elasticity of substitution (CES), in economics, is a property of some production functions and utility functions. Several economists have featured in the topic and have contributed in the final finding of the constant. They include Tom McK ...

production function and demonstrating its econometric uses. Future Nobel Memorial Prize laureates

Kenneth Arrow Kenneth Joseph Arrow (23 August 1921 – 21 February 2017) was an American economist, mathematician, writer, and political theorist. He was the joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with John Hicks in 1972. In economics ...

and

Robert Solow Robert Merton Solow, GCIH (; born August 23, 1924) is an American economist whose work on the theory of economic growth culminated in the exogenous growth model named after him. He is currently Emeritus Institute Professor of Economics at the Ma ...

were co-authors.Arrow, Kenneth J., et al. "Capital-labor substitution and economic efficiency." The Review of Economics and Statistics (1961): 225-250.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minhas, Bagicha Singh 20th-century Indian economists 1929 births 2005 deaths Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering Scientists from Punjab, India Fellows of the Econometric Society