'Edward H. Chamberlin' (
May 181899-
1967) was an
American economist. He was born in
La Conner, Washington.
Chamberlin studied first at the
University of Iowa (where he was influenced by
Frank H. Knight), then pursued graduate-level studies at the
University of Michigan, eventually receiving his
Ph.D. from
Harvard University in 1927.
For most of his career Edward Chamberlin taught economics at Harvard (1937-1967). He made significant contributions to microeconomics, particularly on competition theory and consumer choice, and their connection to prices. Edward Chamberlin coined the term "
product differentiation" to describe how a supplier may be able to charge a greater amount for a product than perfect competition would allow.
His most significant contribution was the theory of
monopolistic competition. Chamberlin published his book ''The Theory of Monopolistic Competition'' in 1933, the same year that
Joan Robinson published her book on the same topic: ''The Economics of Imperfect Competition'', so these two economists can be regarded as the parents of the modern study of imperfect competition.
Chamberlin's theory of monopolisitic competition is used by
sociologist Harrison White in his "markets from networks" model of market structure and competition.
Major Works
★ "Duopoly: Values where sellers are few", 1929, ''QJE''
★ ''Theory of Monopolistic Competition'', 1933
★ "Advertising Costs and Equilibrium", 1944, ''RES''
★ "Proportionality, Divisibility and Economics of Scale", 1948, ''QJE''
★ "An Experimental Imperfect Market", 1948, ''JPE''
★ "Product Heterogeneity and Public Policy", 1950, ''AER''
★ ''Monopolistic Competition Revisited'', 1951
★ "Impact of Recent Monopoly Theory on the Schumpeterian System", 1951, ''REStat''
★ "Full Cost and Monopolistic Competition", 1952, ''EJ''
★ "The Product as an Economic Variable", 1953, ''QJE''
★ "Some Aspects of Nonprice Competition", 1954, in Huegy, editor, ''Role and Nature of Competition''
★ "Measuring the Degree of Monopoly and Competition", 1954, in Chamberlin, editor, ''Monopoly and Competition and their Regulation''
★ "The Monopoly Power of Labor", 1957, in Wright, editor, ''Impact of the Union''
★ "On the Origin of Oligopoly", 1957, ''EJ''
★ ''Towards a More General Theory of Value'', 1957
External links
★
A brief bio of Chamberlin