Economic Approach

Gary S. Becker (1930–2014) was University Professor at the University of Chicago with a joint appointment in both the economics and sociology departments. He was the author of many books, including Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis and The Economics of Discrimination. He collaborated with Richard Posner on the Becker-Posner Blog, which formed the basis for their book Uncommon Sense: Economic Insights, from Marriage to Terrorism. Becker was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1992 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007. Julio J. Elias is professor of economics, director of the master of economics, and executive director of the Joint Initiative for Latin American Experimental Economics at the University of CEMA, Argentina. Casey B. Mulligan is professor in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and program director at the Initiative on Enabling Choice and Competition in Healthcare at the University of Chicago. Kevin M. Murphy is George J. Stigler Distinguished Service Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

• Foreword by Edward Glaeser1. Just the BeginningAcceptance Speech at Bradley Award Ceremony, June 4, 2008The Spirit of the University of Chicago, September 14, 20102. Accounting for TastesPreference Formation within Families, June 1992Rational Indoctrination and Persuasion, March 2001Some Notes on Drugs, Addiction, Families, and Public Policy, May 2000Promotion Tournaments, Power, Earnings, and Gambling, July 19913. Household Production and Human CapitalShould the Military Pay for Training of Skilled Personnel? August 15, 1957Further Reflections on the Allocation of Time, February 2014The Insurance of Market and Nonmarket Human Capital, November 1980On Whether Intergenerational Mobility Has Declined in US While Inequality Has Increased, March 2012Derivation of Relation Between Schooling of Parents and Children and Inequality, April 20124. Income Inequality and the Public SectorA Positive Theory of the Redistribution of Income, April 1978A Note on Optimal First Best Taxation and the Optimal Distribution of Utilities, 19825. Family EconomicsEconomics and the Family, September 21, 1999Chronological Academic Life of Gary S. BeckerSelected Writings about Gary S. BeckerBibliography of Gary S. BeckerDissertations Chaired by Gary S. Becker at Columbia University and the University of ChicagoAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex

“The Economic Approach is a fascinating collection of Gary S. Becker's unpublished works with additional, insightful commentary on both his life and the works contained in this book. . . .The Economic Approach succeeds in giving readers at different educational levels in economics an understanding of how economics can be used as a method of inquiry into all kinds of human behavior. . . .While Becker's finished works and the published works of many other economists also cover these topics, this book's unique contribution is revealing Becker's thought process through his still-in-progress writings. . . .Highly recommended.”