View source for Andreu Mas-Colell

{{Short description|Catalan economist and politician from Spain}}
{{family name hatnote|Mas|Colell|lang=Catalan}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Andreu Mas-Colell
|image        = Andreu_Mas-Colell_oficial.jpg
|imagesize    =
|caption      =
|office       = [[List of Ministers of Economy and Knowledge of Catalonia|Minister of Economy and Knowledge of Catalonia]]
|term_start   = 29 December 2010
|term_end     =  14 January 2016
|deputy       =
|primeminister= [[Artur Mas]]
|predecessor  = [[Antoni Castells]] (Economy) <br />[[Josep Huguet]] (Innovation and Universities)
|successor    = [[Oriol Junqueras]]
|office1      = [[Executive Council of Catalonia|Minister of Universities, Research and the Information Society of Catalonia]]
|term_start1  = 3 April 2000
|term_end1    = 17 December 2003
|president1   = [[Jordi Pujol]]
|successor1   = [[Carles Solà]]
|birth_name   = Andreu Mas-Colell
|birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1944|6|29}}
|birth_place  = [[Barcelona]], [[Catalonia]], [[Spain]]
|nationality  = [[Spain|Spanish]]
|party        = [[Democratic Convergence of Catalonia|CDC]] {{small|(2012–2016)}}
|spouse       =
|partner      = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
|relations    =
|children     = [[Alexandre Mas]]
|occupation   =
|profession   = [[Economist]] [[Professor]]
|module           = {{Infobox economist
|child     = yes
| name                      = Andreu Mas-Colell
| institution               = [[Pompeu Fabra University]]
| field                     = [[Microeconomics]]
| school_tradition          =
| alma_mater                = [[University of Minnesota-Minneapolis]]
| doctoral_advisor          = [[Marcel Kessel Richter]]
| doctoral_students         = [[Timothy Kehoe]]<br>[[Eddie Dekel]]<br>[[Mathias Dewatripont]]<br>{{ill|Atsushi Kajii|ja|梶井厚志}}<br>[[Roberto Serrano]]<br>{{ill|Antoni Calvó-Armengol|ca}}
| repec_prefix              = f
| repec_id                  = pma1422 }}
}}
'''Andreu Mas-Colell''' ({{IPA|ca|ənˈdɾew ˈmas kuˈleʎ|lang}}; born 29 June 1944) is an [[economist]], an expert in [[microeconomics]] and a prominent [[mathematical economics|mathematical economist]].<ref name="Jackson" /> He is the founder of the [[Barcelona Graduate School of Economics]] and a professor in the department of economics at [[Pompeu Fabra University]] in [[Barcelona]], [[Catalonia]], [[Spain]]. He has also served several times in the [[Catalonia Government 2010-2014 term of office|cabinet]] of the [[Generalitat of Catalonia|Catalan government]].<ref name="cv">[http://www.econ.upf.edu/~mcolell/cv.pdf Curriculum vitae] from Mas-Colell's web site at Pompeu Fabra, retrieved 2011-01-17.</ref><ref name="bgse-profile">[http://www.barcelonagse.eu/faculty.php?id=10 Faculty profile], Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, retrieved 2011-01-17.</ref><ref name="cna10">{{citation|url=http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/politics/andreu-mas-colell-internationally-recognised-economist-leading-catalan-economy%E2%80%99s-recov|publisher=Catalan News Agency|title=Andreu Mas-Colell, an internationally recognised economist leading Catalan economy's recovery|date=December 28, 2010}}.</ref><ref name="bgse-erc">[http://www.barcelonagse.eu/Prof_Mas_Colell_Honored_with_Medal_Conferences.html Academic Acknowledgement to Prof. Mas-Colell Prior to Commencing New Role at ERC], Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, retrieved 2011-01-17.</ref> Summarizing his and others' research in [[general equilibrium theory]], his monograph gave a thorough exposition of research using  [[differential topology]].<ref name="General Equilibrium 1988">Page vii:[[Yves Balasko]]. ''Foundations of the Theory of General Equilibrium'', 1988, {{isbn|0-12-076975-1}}.</ref><ref>Back cover: {{cite book|last=Mas-Colell|first=Andreu|year=1985|title=The Theory of general economic equilibrium: A ''differentiable'' approach|series=Econometric Society monographs|number=9|publisher=Cambridge&nbsp;UP|isbn=0-521-26514-2|mr=1113262}}</ref> His textbook ''[[Microeconomic Theory (graduate level textbook)|Microeconomic Theory]]'', co-authored with [[Michael Whinston]] and [[Jerry Green (economist)|Jerry Green]], is the most used graduate microeconomics textbook in the world.<ref name="Johansson 2004 515–538">{{citation|last=Johansson|first=D.|journal=Econ Journal Watch|volume=1|issue=3|year=2004|pages=515–538|url=http://econjwatch.org/articles/economics-without-entrepreneurship-or-institutions-a-vocabulary-analysis-of-graduate-textbooks|title=Economics without Entrepreneurship or Institutions: A Vocabulary Analysis of Graduate Textbooks}}. The same result was also obtained in a survey of economics instructors by {{citation|first=Gaines H.|last=Liner|title=Core journals in economics|journal=Economic Inquiry|year=2002|volume=40|issue=1|pages=138–145|doi=10.1093/ei/40.1.138}}.</ref>
In June 2021, Spain’s [[Court of Auditors]] found that he was among those responsible for government expenditure on the unconstitutional [[2017 Catalan independence referendum]], and announced its intention to fine him millions of euros; one member of the court dissented, and an outcry from economists followed.<ref name="Times 15 June">{{Cite news|last=Wilkinson|first=Isambard|date=15 June 2021|title=Outcry as retired Catalan minister faces multimillion-euro 'independence' fine|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/outcry-as-retired-catalan-minister-faces-multi-million-euro-independence-fine-8hp8q0qwt|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210615215056/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/outcry-as-retired-catalan-minister-faces-multi-million-euro-independence-fine-8hp8q0qwt|archive-date=15 June 2021}}</ref>
==Biography==
A native of Barcelona<!--  in the Spanish province of [[Catalonia]] -->,<ref name="Jackson">Page 559: {{cite news|title=Mathematics in Barcelona: Time past, time future |last=Jackson|first=Allyn|journal=Notices of the American Mathematical Society|date=May 2005 |volume=47|number=5|pages=554–560|url=https://www.ams.org/notices/200005/fea-barcelona.pdf}}</ref> Mas-Colell completed his undergraduate studies at the [[University of Barcelona]], earning a degree in economics in 1966. He moved to the [[University of Minnesota]] for his graduate studies, and completed his Ph.D. in 1972 under the supervision of Marcel Richter.<ref>{{mathgenealogy|id=32893|name=Andreu Mas-Colell}}.</ref> He took a  faculty position in mathematics and economics at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], becoming a full professor in 1979. In 1981, he moved to [[Harvard University]], and in 1988 he became the Louis&nbsp;Berkman Professor of Economics at Harvard.<ref name="cv"/><ref name="bgse-profile"/><ref name="cna10"/><ref name="bgse-erc"/> In 1995 he moved to Pompeu Fabra to lead the Department of Economics and Business.<ref name="Jackson"/> He was editor-in-chief of the ''[[Journal of Mathematical Economics]]'' from&nbsp;1985 to&nbsp;1989, and of ''[[Econometrica]]'' from 1988 to 1998. He was president of the [[Econometric Society]] in 1993 and of the [[European Economic Association]] in 2006.<ref name="cv"/><ref name="bgse-profile"/><ref name="bgse-erc"/>
In public service, Mas-Colell was the Commissioner for Universities and Research of the [[Generalitat of Catalonia]] in 1999–2000.<ref name="cv"/><ref name="bgse-profile"/><ref name="cna10"/><ref name="bgse-erc"/> While Minister of Universities, Research and the Information Society for the Generalitat from 2000 to 2003, Mas-Colell implemented a research institution called [[Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies]] (ICREA)<ref name="Jackson09">Page 1431: {{cite news|title=A Trio of institutes|last=Jackson|first=Allyn|journal=Notices of the American Mathematical Society|date=December 2009|volume=56|number=11|pages=1425–1434|url=https://www.ams.org/notices/200911/rtx091101426p.pdf}}</ref> to attract top-notch scientists in all fields of knowledge, from philosophers to astrophysicists, to perform their research in 50 different host institutions in Catalonia. Mas-Colell served the Secretary General of the [[European Research Council]] from 2009 to 2010.<ref name="cv"/><ref name="bgse-profile"/><ref name="cna10"/><ref name="bgse-erc"/> In the [[Catalonia Government 2010-2014 term of office|Catalonia Government from 2010-2016]], presided by [[Artur Mas]], he was appointed as the Councillor for Economy and Knowledge, being responsible for the government's budget, economic policy, and research policy.<ref name="cna10"/>
Spain’s [[Court of Auditors]] in June 2021 held Mas-Colell and several former colleagues in the Catalan government responsible for the mismanagement of €4.8m in support of [[Catalan independence movement|Catalan independence]]. [[Paul Romer]], a Nobel prizewinner in economics, said that the procedure appeared to be ‘not justice but politics by other means.’ One member of the tribunal voted against the decision.<ref name="Times 15 June" />
==Research==
Mas-Colell's research has ranged broadly over mathematical economics. In particular, he has been associated with a revival of the use of [[differential calculus]] (in the form of "[[global analysis]]") at the highest levels of mathematical economics. Following [[John von Neumann]]'s break-throughs in economics, and particularly after his introduction of [[functional analysis]] and [[topology]] into economic theory, advanced mathematical economics reduced its emphasis on differential calculus. In general equilibrium theory, mathematical economists used [[general topology]], [[convex geometry]], and [[optimization theory]] more than differential calculus.<ref>[[Gérard Debreu]] ''[[The Theory of value|The Theory of Value: An axiomatic analysis of economic equilibrium]]'', 1959</ref> In the 1960s and 1970s, however, [[Gérard Debreu]] and [[Stephen Smale]] led a revival of the use of differential calculus in mathematical economics. In particular, they were able to prove the existence of a general equilibrium, where earlier writers had failed, through the use of their novel mathematics: [[Baire category]] from general topology and [[Sard's lemma]] from [[differential topology]] and [[differential geometry]]. Their publications initiated a period of research "characterized by the use of elementary differential topology": "almost every area in economic theory where the differential approach has been pursued, including general equilibrium" was covered by Mas-Colell's monograph on differentiable analysis and economics.<ref name="General Equilibrium 1988"/> Mas-Colell's book "offers a synthetic and thorough account of a major recent development in general equilibrium analysis, namely, the largely successful reconstruction of the theory using modern ideas of differential topology", according to its back cover.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mas-Colell|first=Andreu|year=1985|title=The Theory of general economic equilibrium: A ''differentiable'' approach|series=Econometric Society monographs|number=9|publisher=Cambridge&nbsp;UP|isbn=0-521-26514-2|mr=1113262}}</ref>
Mas-Colell has also contributed to the theory of general equilibrium in [[topological vector space|topological]] [[Riesz space|vector&nbsp;lattice]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Florenzano|first1=Monique|last2=Gourdel|first2=Pascal|last3=Jofré|first3=Alejandro|title=Supporting weakly&nbsp;Pareto optimal allocations in infinite&nbsp;dimensional nonconvex economies|journal=Economic Theory|pages =549–564|volume=29|number=3|doi=10.1007/s00199-005-0033-y|year=2006|mr=2272312|s2cid=14180426 |citeseerx=10.1.1.542.2138}}</ref> The sets of prices and quantities  can be described as partially ordered vector spaces, often as vector lattices. Economies with uncertain or dynamic decisions typically require that the vector spaces be infinite-dimensional, in which case the order properties of vector&nbsp;lattices allow stronger conclusions to be made.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Aliprantis |first1=Charalambos&nbsp;D. <!-- authorlink1=Charalamos D. Aliprantis -->| last2=Brown|first2=Donald&nbsp;J.|last3=Burkinshaw|first3=Owen|title=Existence and optimality of competitive equilibria|publisher=Springer-Verlag|location=Berlin|year=1990|pages=xii+284|isbn=3-540-52866-0|mr=1075992}}</ref> Recently researchers have studied [[nonlinear pricing]]: A "main motivation came from the fact that Mas-Colell's fundamental theory of welfare&nbsp;economics with no interiority assumptions crucially requires lattice&nbsp;properties of commodity&nbsp;spaces, ''even'' in finite-dimensional settings."<ref name=Mordukhovich2>Page 503 (Chapter&nbsp;8 "Applications to economics", especially Section&nbsp;8.5. "Pareto optimality in ordered commodity spaces", and the remainder of the chapter, particularly Section 8.5.11 "Nonlinear pricing")
{{cite book|author-link=Boris Mordukhovich|first=Boris S.|last=Mordukhovich|title=Variational analysis and generalized differentiation&nbsp;II: Applications|series=Grundlehren Series (Fundamental Principles of Mathematical Sciences)|volume=331|publisher=Springer|year=2006|pages=i–xxii and&nbsp;1–610|mr=2191745}}</ref>
===Books===
Mas-Colell is the author or co-author of:
*''The Theory of General Economic Equilibrium: a Differentiable Approach'' (Econometric Society Monographs in Pure Theory 9, Cambridge University Press, 1990, {{isbn|978-0-521-38870-2}}). This book was evaluated  for ''[[Mathematical Reviews]]'' by Dave Furth, who wrote that
::Mas-Colell's book is one of the first and still one of the most complete and most rigorous of the few textbooks on the applications of differential topology and global analysis to the theory of general economic equilibrium. .... People working in the field ought to own and to have used it already for some time. So those still wanting to consult for the first time and perhaps wanting to buy the book must be mathematicians interested in economic applications of the above-mentioned mathematical subjects. They will not regret consulting and/or buying it; the book is excellent.<ref>{{cite news|first=Dave|last=Furth|year=1992|title=Review of ''The Theory of general economic equilibrium: A differentiable approach''|journal=[[Mathematical Reviews]]|mr=1113262}}.</ref>
*''Microeconomic Theory'' (with [[Michael Whinston|Michael Dennis Whinston]], [[Jerry Green (economist)|Jerry R. Green]], Oxford University Press, 1995, {{isbn|978-0-19-507340-9}}). {{harvtxt| Johansson|2004}} writes that this was "the most commonly used textbook in microeconomics", Jönköping excepted (the investigation covers all economics Ph.D. programs in Sweden for the academic year 2003-04).<ref name="Johansson 2004 515–538"/>
* {{cite book | title = Noncooperative approaches to the theory of perfect competition | publisher = Academic Press | location = New York | year = 1982 | isbn = 9780124767508 }}
==Awards and honors==
Mas-Colell is a foreign associate of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences]], a foreign honorary member of the [[American Economic Association]], a fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]], a member of the [[Academia Europaea]], a member of the [[Institute of Catalan Studies]], a fellow of the [[Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas]], and a fellow of the [[Econometric Society]]. He has received honorary doctorates from the [[University of Alicante]] in Spain, the [[University of Toulouse]] and [[HEC Paris]] in France, the [[National University of the South]] in Argentina, and the [[University of Chicago]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upf.edu/en/web/econ/2015-news/-/asset_publisher/MkklfTK5CVik/content/id/3780578/maximized|title=Andreu Mas-Colell awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Chicago|date=15 June 2015|publisher=Universitat Pompeu Fabra|access-date=2024-02-21}}</ref> He is a recipient of the [[Creu de Sant Jordi]], the highest civil honor of Catalonia, and of the [[King Juan Carlos Prize in Economics]].<ref name="cv"/><ref name="bgse-profile"/><ref name="cna10"/><ref name="bgse-erc"/>
Also he has received the 2009 [[BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award]] in Economy, Finance and Management (co-winner with [[Hugo F. Sonnenschein]]).
In honor of his 65th birthday and his service on the European Research Council, two conferences were held in his honor at Pompeu Fabra in 2009, the ''Journal of Mathematical Economics'' published a special issue in his honor, and he was awarded the Medal of Honor of the university.<ref name="bgse-erc"/>
== See also ==
* [[Clara Ponsatí i Obiols]]
==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links==
*[http://www.econ.upf.edu/~mcolell/en/ Web site] at Pompeu Fabra University
{{Pujol Seventh Cabinet}}
{{Pujol Eighth Cabinet}}
{{Pujol Ninth Cabinet}}
{{First Mas Cabinet}}
{{Second Mas Cabinet}}
{{Presidents of the Econometric Society}}
{{Presidents of the European Economic Association}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mas-Colell, Andreu}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics]]
[[Category:Economists from Catalonia]]
[[Category:Economy ministers of Catalonia]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Econometric Society]]
[[Category:Game theorists]]
[[Category:General equilibrium theorists]]
[[Category:Harvard University faculty]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mathematical economists]]
[[Category:Members of Academia Europaea]]
[[Category:Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts]]
[[Category:Members of the Institute for Catalan Studies]]
[[Category:Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Pompeu Fabra University]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Econometric Society]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]]
[[Category:Economics journal editors]]
[[Category:Fellows of the European Economic Association]]