Pigou - Arthur Cecil Pigou

British economist. Born into a military family. Educated at Harrow School and King's College, Cambridge, he became a fellow of the same college in 1902. After serving as a lecturer at University College London and Cambridge University, he became the (then only) professor of economics at Cambridge University in 1908, succeeding his mentor A. Marshall (until 1943). During this time he served on various government committees and wrote a great number of books and papers, but he is best known for The Economics of Welfare (first published in 1920, fourth edition in 1932), a substantially expanded and revised version of Wealth and Welfare (1912), which was published before the First World War. In the book, he called the part of general welfare that can be directly or indirectly measured by the unit of measurement known as money (more specifically, that which can be expressed by national income) economic welfare, and presented his famous "three propositions of welfare economics," which state that, all other things being equal, (1) an increase in national income, (2) equalization of the distribution of national income, and (3) a decrease in fluctuations in national income will each bring about an increase in economic welfare. The third proposition was later separated into A Study in Industrial Fluctuations (1926), and the second proposition was criticized by L. Robbins and K. G. Myrdal in the 1930s, but it marked the founding of the field of economics that is still known today as welfare economics. Furthermore, The Theory of Unemployment (1933) was severely criticized by Keynes as a representative of "classical" employment theory in the Keynesian sense, but in terms of policy proposals, ever since his inaugural lecture as professor, Pigou had continued to advocate the effectiveness of public policy as a measure against recessions. Therefore, the quasi-conventional view that the only measure against unemployment that Pigou advocated during the recessions of the 1920s and 1930s was wage cuts, is completely incorrect as a matter of fact.

[Tadashi Hayasaka]

"Theory of Unemployment, translated by Shinohara Taizo (1951, Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha)" ▽ "Employment and Equilibrium, translated by Suzuki Ryoichi (1951, Yuhikaku)" ▽ "Welfare Economics (4th edition), supervised translation by Nagata Kiyoshi et al., 4 volumes (1953-55, Toyo Keizai Shinposha)" ▽ "Welfare Economics, by Kumagai Nao (1978, Sobunsha)" ▽ "Revolution and Progress in Economics, by T.W. Hutchison, translated by Hayasaka Tadashi, Chapter 6 (1987, Shunjusha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの経済学者。軍人の家に生まれる。ハロー校、ケンブリッジ大学キングズ・カレッジに学び、1902年同カレッジのフェロー。ロンドン大学ユニバーシティ・カレッジ講師、ケンブリッジ大学講師を経て、1908年、師A・マーシャルの後継者としてケンブリッジ大学の（当時ただ一人の）経済学教授に就任（～1943）。この間さまざまな政府関係委員会の委員となり、また非常に多くの著書・論文を著したが、もっとも著名なのは、第一次世界大戦前に刊行された『富と厚生』Wealth and Welfare（1912）を大幅に増補改訂した『厚生経済学』The Economics of Welfare（初版1920、第4版1932）である。同書で彼は、一般的厚生のうち直接間接に貨幣という測定尺度で測りうる部分（より具体的には国民所得によって表現しうるもの）を経済的厚生とよび、他の条件にして等しい限り、(1)国民所得の増大、(2)国民所得の分配の平等化、(3)国民所得の変動の減少は、それぞれ経済的厚生の増大をもたらすという、有名な「厚生経済学の三命題」を提示し、第三命題はのちに『産業変動論』A Study in Industrial Fluctuations（1926）に分離され、第二命題は30年代にL・ロビンズやK・G・ミュルダールによって批判されたりしたが、厚生経済学と今日もよばれている経済学の一分野を創始した。また、『失業の理論』The Theory of Unemployment（1933）は、ケインズ的意味での「古典派」の雇用理論の代表としてケインズによって手厳しく批判されたが、政策提言面では、ピグーは教授就任講演時以来、不況対策としての公共政策の有効性を説き続けており、1920～1930年代の不況時に際して失業対策としてピグーが説いたのは賃金切下げだけだった、という準定説は、事実問題として完全な誤りである。

［早坂　忠］

『篠原泰三訳『失業の理論』（1951・実業之日本社）』▽『鈴木諒一訳『雇用と均衡』（1951・有斐閣）』▽『永田清他監訳『厚生経済学（原書第4版）』全4冊（1953～55・東洋経済新報社）』▽『熊谷尚夫著『厚生経済学』（1978・創文社）』▽『T・W・ハチスン著、早坂忠訳『経済学の革命と進歩』「第6章」（1987・春秋社）』

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