Wellington Award Inaugural Lecture: Pareto Distribution Revisited for National Wealth Creation and Distribution in an Era of Globalization

摘要

The Wellington Award from the Engineering Economy Division of the Institute of Industrial Engineers is named after Arthur M. Wellington, a 19th century engineer who wrote one of the first books on the application of economic principles to an engineering problem, The Economic Theory of Railroad Location in 1887. In recognition of the foundational work of Wellington, award winners present lectures at the annual industrial engineering conference. For the 2011 Wellington Award Inaugural Lecture, the selected topic is on the seminal work of another great economist, Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), an Italian engineer, economist, and sociologist. Pareto's work on the theory of the distribution of wealth epitomizes bridging the principles of economic analysis and engineering applications. It is, thereby, appropriate for a Wellington Award lecture. Wellington and Pareto were contemporaries and the long-ago marks they both left on research, practice, and applications of engineering economy can still be felt today. In this lecture, we will trace the evolution of Pareto's signature contribution, Pareto Distribution, and its ubiquitous relevance to everything we observe in practice today. In addition to the historical perspectives, we will address implications for the modern and global challenge of national wealth creation and distribution.