Information

EducationPh.D. in Operations Research, University of California, Berkeley.

Academic AppointmentsExternal Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Visiting Researcher in the Intelligent Systems Lab at PARC (formerly Xerox Parc) in Palo Alto.

Prior AppointmentsMorrison Professor of Economics and Population Studies at Stanford University from 1983 to 1996.

Recognition & AwardsSchumpeter Prize in economics. Lagrange Prize in complexity science.

Research Field

Arthur pioneered the modern study of positive feedbacks or increasing returns in the economy--in particular their role in magnifying small, random events in the economy and locking in dominant players. This work has gone on to become the basis of our understanding of the high-tech economy. Arthur is also one of the pioneers of the science of complexity.