Partha Dasgupta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Partha Dasgupta
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Dasgupta in 2013
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| Born |
Partha Sarathi Dasgupta
17 November 1942 (age 82) |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) |
Carol Dasgupta
(m. 1968) |
| Institution | |
| Field | Ecological economics |
| Doctoral advisor |
James Mirrlees |
| Influences |
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| Awards |
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Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta (born 17 November 1942) is a famous economist from India and Britain. He is a special professor of economics at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He is also a fellow at St John's College, Cambridge.
Contents
About Partha Dasgupta's Life
Partha Dasgupta was born in Dhaka and grew up mostly in Varanasi, India. His father, Amiya Kumar Dasgupta, was also a well-known economist.
He is married to Carol Dasgupta, who helps people with their thoughts and feelings. They have three children: Zubeida, Shamik, and Aisha. His father-in-law, James Meade, won a Nobel Prize.
Education and Learning
Partha Dasgupta went to school in Varanasi, India. He finished high school in 1958. He then studied Physics at Hans Raj College in Delhi, India, graduating in 1962.
Later, he studied Mathematics at Cambridge (Trinity College) and finished in 1965. He earned his PhD in economics from Cambridge in 1968. His main focus was on how population, growth, and money connect. His teacher was Sir James Mirrlees, who also won a Nobel Prize.
Partha Dasgupta's Career
Research and Studies
Sir Partha Dasgupta has studied many important topics. These include how countries grow and develop, how technology changes, and how population affects our planet. He also looks at how we use natural resources.
He has worked on social capital, which is about how people work together in communities. He also studies the theory of games, which helps understand decisions. His work often involves complex math. He has written many papers with other smart people like Kenneth Arrow and Amartya Sen.
Dasgupta worked closely with Karl-Goran Maler for a long time. They created the idea of 'inclusive wealth'. This helps measure how well humans are doing by looking at all kinds of wealth, including nature. They also helped start the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE). This group teaches young economists about how the environment and money are linked.
He also helped create a journal called Environment and Development Economics. This journal helps economists from poorer countries share their research with the world.
Focus on Ecological Economics
One of Dasgupta's main interests has always been ecological economics. This field looks at how our economy fits within nature. His PhD work already explored how the Earth's limits affect economic growth.
In 1982, he wrote a book called The Control of Resources. This book set the stage for future studies on population, how much we consume, and the natural world. He has continued to explore these ideas in many other books and articles.
In 2019, he led a big project for the UK government. This project looked at the economics of biodiversity, which is the variety of life on Earth. The report, published in 2021, was called 'The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review'.
A key goal of this report was to find new ways to measure the value of nature. Economists call this 'natural capital'. This helps us understand how much nature is worth. The report also showed that our human economy is part of nature, not separate from it. It explores what this means for how we grow and develop.
Teaching and Leadership Roles
Dasgupta taught at the London School of Economics from 1971 to 1984. In 1985, he became a professor at the University of Cambridge. He was also the head of the Economics department there for a few years.
From 1989 to 1992, he taught at Stanford University in the USA. He returned to Cambridge in 1991 and has been there ever since. In 1994, his special teaching role at Cambridge was named the Frank Ramsey Professorship of Economics.
He has also held many other important roles:
- He was Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics.
- He helped start and guide SANDEE in Kathmandu.
- He helped create the journal Environment and Development Economics.
- He was a research fellow at the University of Manchester.
- He was President of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
- He is a supporter of Population Matters, a charity about population.
- He chaired a group for the Indian government on 'Green National Accounting'.
- He is Chairman of the Management Committee for the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge.
Honours and Awards
Sir Partha Dasgupta has received many honours and awards for his work. He has been chosen as a member of many important groups, including:
- The Econometric Society (1975)
- The British Academy (1989)
- The Royal Society (2004)
- The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (1997)
- The US National Academy of Sciences (2001)
He was made a Knight in 2002 for his services to economics. In 2023, he received an even higher honour, being appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE). This was for his work in economics and protecting the natural environment.
Two books of essays have been published to honour him:
- "Environment & Development Economics: Essays in Honour of Sir Partha Dasgupta" (2014)
- "Sustainable Consumption: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives in Honour of Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta" (2014)
Prizes for His Work
Dasgupta has won many major prizes:
- The Volvo Environment Prize (2002)
- The Boulding Award (2004)
- The PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award (2007)
- The Zayed International Environment Prize (2011)
- The Erik Kempe Award (2007)
- The Blue Planet Prize (2015)
- The Tyler Prize (2016)
- The Kew International Medal (2021)
- The Champions of the Earth award (2022) from the UNEP
- The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2023)
He has also received honorary degrees from many universities around the world, like Wageningen University, Catholic University of Louvain, and Harvard University.
Selected Books and Publications
Here are some of the important books Sir Partha Dasgupta has written or helped write:
- Guidelines for Project Evaluation (with S. A. Marglin and A. K. Sen), United Nations, 1972.
- Economic Theory and Exhaustible Resources (with G. M. Heal), Cambridge University Press, 1979.
- The Control of Resources, Harvard University Press, 1982.
- An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution. Oxford: Clarendon, 1993.
- Social Capital: A Multifaceted Perspective (co-editor with Ismail Serageldin). Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2000.
- Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, Rev. ed. 2004.
- Economics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
- Selected Papers of Partha Dasgupta: Vol.1, Institutions, Innovations, and Human Values; Vol. 2, Poverty, Population, and Natural Resources. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
