James Mirrlees

@Economists, Family and Family ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Sir James A Cancer Celebrities British Trinity College, Cambridge University Of Edinburgh Intellectuals & Academics Economists Sir James A. Mirrlees is a Scottish economist who received the Nobel Prize for his research on economic incentives in 1996. He shared the Nobel Prize with William Vickrey of the ‘Columbia University’. His main contribution to the field of economics was his path-breaking research work on optimal taxation on income or a progressive taxation process which included incentives for earning. He started his research work in an era when taxes were very high and the economy was controlled centrally. He assumed that the government should tax the rich more and use it for the benefit of the poor. He also made further assumptions that the rate of taxes has a direct effect on the incentive of people to work and earn more. With these assumptions he calculated the highest marginal tax rate that should be applied on the high-income groups. The optimal tax rate that he computed was actually only 20 percent of the income and not 83 percent as was prevalent at that time in Britain. Moreover he concluded that everyone should be taxed at a flat rate of 20 percent for the maximum benefit of all wage earners. He also helped to design contracts that would provide the maximum incentives to the employees of companies.

Personal Details

Birthday: July 5, 1936 Nationality: British Famous: Trinity College, Cambridge, University Of Edinburgh, Intellectuals & Academics, Economists Spouses: Gill Mirrlees Known as: Sir James Alexander Mirrlees Childrens: Catriona, Fiona Universities: Trinity College, Cambridge,University Of Edinburgh University of Edinburgh Trinity College Cambridge Information Detail Birthday July 5, 1936 Nationality British Famous Trinity College, Cambridge, University Of Edinburgh, Intellectuals & Academics, Economists Spouses Gill Mirrlees Known as Sir James Alexander Mirrlees Childrens Catriona, Fiona Universities Trinity College, Cambridge,University Of Edinburgh University of Edinburgh Trinity College Cambridge Notable Alumnis Trinity College Cambridge University Of Edinburgh Birth Place Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland Gender Male Sun Sign Cancer Born in Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland Famous as Economist

Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland

James Mirrlees born at Unsplash Birth Place

He married Gill Mirrlees in 1961 while he was still a student. Gill died in November, 1993. Unsplash Personal Life

He has two daughters from his marriage with Gill named Catriona and Fiona. Unsplash Personal Life

James Mirrlees was born James Alexander Mirrlees in Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, South West Scotland, UK, on July 5, 1936. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He grew up in Newton Stewart before his family moved to Port William in 1950. He has a younger brother. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

His father was a teller at one of the banks in Newton Stewart. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He attended the ‘Primary School’ and the ‘Douglas Ewart High School’ at Newton Stewart, Wigtownshire, Scotland from 1941 to 1954. He took his graduation exams earlier than others in his class as he was very talented in mathematics. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He joined the ‘University of Edinburg’ in 1954 and studied philosophy and mathematics as major subjects after skipping the first year of college. He obtained his B.A. and then his M.A. in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1957 from the same university and also won the ‘Napier Medal’. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

James Mirrlees was an adviser with MIT Center for International Studies’, India Project, New Delhi, from 1962 to 1963. Unsplash Career

He took up a teaching fellowship at the ‘Trinity College’ in 1963. He taught Economics as an Assistant Lecturer and then as a Lecturer up to 1968. During this period he started his research work on optimum taxation along with Peter A. Diamond. Unsplash Career

He served as an advisor to the British Labor Party during the 1960s and the 1970s. Unsplash Career

For brief periods from 1966 to 1968 he served as an Adviser for the ‘Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Karachi’. Unsplash Career

He moved to the ‘University of Oxford’ in 1968 and started teaching as a professor of economics. He continued with his work on the relationship between non-linear incentives and income tax that he had started while working for MIT. Unsplash Career

James Mirrlees published the book ‘Manual of Industrial Project Analysis in Developing Countries, Vol II: Social Cost Benefit Analysis’ in collaboration with I. M. D. Little in 1969. Unsplash Major Works

He published ‘Models of Economic Growth’ in 1973 and wrote a large number of papers on optimal taxation. Unsplash Major Works

His second book written with help from I. M. D. Little titled ‘Project Appraisal and Planning for developing countries’ was published in 1974. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	July 5, 1936
Nationality	British
Famous	Trinity College, Cambridge, University Of Edinburgh, Intellectuals & Academics, Economists
Spouses	Gill Mirrlees
Known as	Sir James Alexander Mirrlees
Childrens	Catriona, Fiona
Universities	Trinity College, Cambridge,University Of Edinburgh University of Edinburgh Trinity College Cambridge
Notable Alumnis	Trinity College Cambridge University Of Edinburgh
Birth Place	Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland
Gender	Male
Sun Sign	Cancer
Born in	Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland
Famous as	Economist

James Mirrlees

British

Jul 5, 1936

Biography

Personal Details

Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland