Arthur Lewis (economist)

Sir (William) Arthur Lewis, January 23, 1915 — June 15, 1991, was a Saint Lucian economist well known for his contributions in the field of economic development. In 1979 he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, becoming the first black person to win a Nobel Prize in a category other than peace.

Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour

Lewis published in 1954 what was to be the most influential development economics article, “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour” (Manchester School). In this work Lewis combined an analysis of the historical experience of developed countries with the central ideas of the classical economists to produce a broad picture of the development process. In his story a “capitalist” sector develops by taking labour from a non-capitalist backward “subsistence” sector. At an early stage of development, there would be “unlimited” supplies of labour from the subsistence economy which means that the capitalist sector can expand without the need to raise wages.

The Theory of Economic Growth

Lewis published The Theory of Economic Growth in 1955 in which he sought to “provide an appropriate framework for studying economic development,” driven by a combination of “curiosity and of practical need.

Lewisian Turning Point

According to Lewis, developing countries' industrial wages begin to rise quickly at the point when the supply of surplus labor from the countryside tapers off.

The point, named after him, has recently gained wide circulation in the context of economic development in China.

Life career

Lewis was born in Saint Lucia, then still a British territory in the Caribbean, his parents having recently migrated from Antigua. After gaining his B.Sc. degree in 1937 and Ph.D. degree in 1940 at the London School of Economics, Lewis lectured at the University of Manchester from 1948 until 1957. When Ghana gained independence in 1957, Lewis became the country's first economic advisor, helping to draw up its first Five Year Development Plan (1959–1963). In 1959 he was appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies. In 1963 he was knighted, and was also appointed a University Professor at Princeton University, a position he retained until his retirement in 1983. In 1970 Lewis became director of the Caribbean Development Bank. He received the Nobel prize in 1979. He died on June 15, 1991 in Bridgetown, Barbados and was buried in the grounds of the St Lucian community college named in his honour.

Lewis' achievements have been recognised by the naming of "The Arthur Lewis Building" (opened in 2007) at the University of Manchester where he once lectured.