Andreu Mas-Colell

Andreu Mas-Colell (Catalan:  [ənˈdɾew ˈmas kuˈleʎ]; born 29

The Honourable
June 1944) is an economist, an expert in microeconomics and a
prominent mathematical economist.[1] He is the founder of the
Andreu Mas-Colell
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 cabinet of the Catalan government.[2][3][4][5] Summarizing his
and others' research in general equilibrium theory, his monograph
gave a thorough exposition of research using differential
topology.[6][7] His textbook on microeconomics, co-authored with
Michael Whinston and Jerry Green, is the most used graduate
microeconomics textbook in the world.[8]

In June 2021, Spain’s Court of Auditors found that he was among

those responsible for government expenditure on the 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.[9]

Biography
Councillor of Economy and
Knowledge of Catalonia
A native of Barcelona,[1] Mas-Colell completed his undergraduate
studies at the University of Barcelona, earning a degree in In office
economics in 1966. He moved to the University of Minnesota for 29 December 2010 – 14 January
his graduate studies, and completed his Ph.D. in 1972 under the 2016
supervision of Marcel Richter.[10] He took a faculty position in Prime Minister Artur Mas
mathematics and economics at the University of California,
Berkeley, becoming a full professor in 1979. In 1981, he moved to Preceded by Antoni Castells
Harvard University, and in 1988 he became the Louis  Berkman (Economy)
Professor of Economics at Harvard.[2][3][4][5] In 1995 he moved to Josep Huguet
Pompeu Fabra to lead the Department of Economics and (Innovation and
Business.[1] He was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Mathematical Universities)
Economics from 1985 to 1989, and of Econometrica from 1988 to Succeeded by Oriol Junqueras
1998. He was president of the Econometric Society in 1993 and of
Personal details
the European Economic Association in 2006.[2][3][5]
Born Andreu Mas-Colell
In public service, Mas-Colell was the Commissioner for 29 June 1944
Universities and Research of the Generalitat of Catalonia in 1999– Barcelona,
2000.[2][3][4][5] While Minister of Universities, Research and the Catalonia, Spain
Information Society for the Generalitat from 2000 to 2003, Mas-
Colell implemented a research institution called Catalan Institution Political party CDC (2012–2016)
for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) [11] to attract top- Children Alexandre Mas
notch scientists in all fields of knowledge, from philosophers to Profession Economist
astrophysicists, to perform their research in 50 different host
Professor
institutions in Catalonia. Mas-Colell served the Secretary General
of the European Research Council from 2009 to 2010.[2][3][4][5] In Academic career
the Catalonia Government from 2010-2016, presided by Artur
Institution Pompeu Fabra
Mas, he was appointed as the Councillor for Economy and
University
Knowledge, being responsible for the government's budget,
economic policy, and research policy.[4] Field Microeconomics
Alma mater University of
Spain’s Court of Auditors in June 2021 held Mas-Colell and
Minnesota-
several former colleagues in the Catalan government responsible
Minneapolis
for the mismanagement of €4.8m in support of Catalan
independence. Paul Romer, a Nobel prizewinner in economics, Doctoral Marcel Kessel
said that the procedure appeared to be ‘not justice but politics by advisor Richter
other means.’ One member of the tribunal voted against the Doctoral Timothy Kehoe
decision.[9] students Eddie Dekel
Mathias
Research Dewatripont
Atsushi Kajii
Mas-Colell's research has ranged broadly over mathematical Roberto Serrano
economics. In particular, he has been associated with a revival of Antoni Calvó-
the use of differential calculus (in the form of "global analysis") at Armengol
the highest levels of mathematical economics. Following John von
Neumann's break-throughs in economics, and particularly after his Information (https://ideas.repec.org/
introduction of functional analysis and topology into economic f/pma1422.html) at IDEAS / RePEc
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.[12] 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.[6] 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.[13]

Mas-Colell has also contributed to the theory of general equilibrium in topological vector lattices.[14] 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 lattices allow stronger conclusions to be made.[15]
Recently researchers have studied nonlinear pricing: A "main motivation came from the fact that Mas-
Colell's fundamental theory of welfare  economics with no interiority assumptions crucially requires
lattice properties of commodity spaces, even in finite-dimensional settings."[16]

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.[17]

Microeconomic Theory (with Michael Dennis Whinston, Jerry R. Green, Oxford University
Press, 1995, ISBN 978-0-19-507340-9). 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).[8]
Noncooperative approaches to the theory of perfect competition. New York: Academic Press.
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.[18] 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.[2][3][4][5]

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.[5]

See also
Clara Ponsatí i Obiols

References
1. Page 559: Jackson, Allyn (May 2005). "Mathematics in Barcelona: Time past, time future" (ht
tps://www.ams.org/notices/200005/fea-barcelona.pdf) (PDF). Notices of the American
Mathematical Society. Vol. 47, no. 5. pp. 554–560.
2. Curriculum vitae (http://www.econ.upf.edu/~mcolell/cv.pdf) from Mas-Colell's web site at
Pompeu Fabra, retrieved 2011-01-17.
3. Faculty profile (http://www.barcelonagse.eu/faculty.php?id=10), Barcelona Graduate School
of Economics, retrieved 2011-01-17.
 4. Andreu Mas-Colell, an internationally recognised economist leading Catalan economy's
recovery (http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/politics/andreu-mas-colell-internationall
y-recognised-economist-leading-catalan-economy%E2%80%99s-recov), Catalan News
Agency, December 28, 2010.
5. Academic Acknowledgement to Prof. Mas-Colell Prior to Commencing New Role at ERC (ht
tp://www.barcelonagse.eu/Prof_Mas_Colell_Honored_with_Medal_Conferences.html),
Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, retrieved 2011-01-17.
6. Page vii:Yves Balasko. Foundations of the Theory of General Equilibrium, 1988, ISBN 0-12-
076975-1.
7. Back cover: Mas-Colell, Andreu (1985). The Theory of general economic equilibrium: A
differentiable approach. Econometric Society monographs. Cambridge UP. ISBN 0-521-
26514-2. MR 1113262 (https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=1113262).
8. Johansson, D. (2004), "Economics without Entrepreneurship or Institutions: A Vocabulary
Analysis of Graduate Textbooks" (http://econjwatch.org/articles/economics-without-entrepren
eurship-or-institutions-a-vocabulary-analysis-of-graduate-textbooks), Econ Journal Watch, 1
(3): 515–538. The same result was also obtained in a survey of economics instructors by
Liner, Gaines H. (2002), "Core journals in economics", Economic Inquiry, 40 (1): 138–145,
doi:10.1093/ei/40.1.138 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fei%2F40.1.138).
9. Wilkinson, Isambard (15 June 2021). "Outcry as retired Catalan minister faces multimillion-
euro 'independence' fine" (https://archive.today/20210615215056/https://www.thetimes.co.u
k/article/outcry-as-retired-catalan-minister-faces-multi-million-euro-independence-fine-8hp8q
0qwt). The Times. Archived from the original (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/outcry-as-reti
red-catalan-minister-faces-multi-million-euro-independence-fine-8hp8q0qwt) on 15 June
2021.
10. Andreu Mas-Colell (https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=32893) at the Mathematics
Genealogy Project.
11. Page 1431: Jackson, Allyn (December 2009). "A Trio of institutes" (https://www.ams.org/notic
es/200911/rtx091101426p.pdf) (PDF). Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
Vol. 56, no. 11. pp. 1425–1434.
12. Gérard Debreu The Theory of Value: An axiomatic analysis of economic equilibrium, 1959
13. Mas-Colell, Andreu (1985). The Theory of general economic equilibrium: A differentiable
approach. Econometric Society monographs. Cambridge UP. ISBN 0-521-26514-2.
MR 1113262 (https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=1113262).
14. Florenzano, Monique; Gourdel, Pascal; Jofré, Alejandro (2006). "Supporting weakly Pareto
optimal allocations in infinite dimensional nonconvex economies". Economic Theory. 29 (3):
549–564. doi:10.1007/s00199-005-0033-y (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00199-005-0033-y).
MR 2272312 (https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=2272312).
S2CID 14180426 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:14180426).
15. Aliprantis, Charalambos D.; Brown, Donald J.; Burkinshaw, Owen (1990). Existence and
optimality of competitive equilibria. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. pp. xii+284. ISBN 3-540-52866-
0. MR 1075992 (https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=1075992).
16. Page 503 (Chapter 8 "Applications to economics", especially Section 8.5. "Pareto optimality
in ordered commodity spaces", and the remainder of the chapter, particularly Section 8.5.11
"Nonlinear pricing") Mordukhovich, Boris S. (2006). Variational analysis and generalized
differentiation II: Applications. Grundlehren Series (Fundamental Principles of Mathematical
Sciences). Vol. 331. Springer. pp. i–xxii and 1–610. MR 2191745 (https://mathscinet.ams.or
g/mathscinet-getitem?mr=2191745).
17. Furth, Dave (1992). "Review of The Theory of general economic equilibrium: A differentiable
approach". Mathematical Reviews. MR 1113262 (https://mathscinet.ams.org/mathscinet-getit
em?mr=1113262)..
18. [1] (http://barcelonagse.eu.dedi153.your-server.de/news/university-chicago-awards-honoris-
causa-doctorate-barcelona-gse-founder-andreu-mas-colell) in the United States

External links
Web site (http://www.econ.upf.edu/~mcolell/en/) at Pompeu Fabra University

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