Sir Partha Dasgupta

Sir Partha Dasgupta. He is a pioneering British economist renowned for integrating ecology and economics to address global sustainability. His seminal work, the Dasgupta Review, commissioned by the HM Treasury, established a comprehensive framework for valuing nature. A professor emeritus at the University of Cambridge, his research has profoundly influenced environmental policy and the field of development economics.

Early Life and Education

Born in Dhaka in the former Bengal Presidency of British India, Dasgupta was raised in Varanasi and later New Delhi. He completed his undergraduate studies in physics at the University of Delhi, earning a Bachelor of Science degree. His academic interests then shifted towards the social sciences, leading him to pursue a doctorate in economics at the University of Cambridge. At Cambridge, he studied under the influential economist Nicholas Kaldor, completing his PhD in 1968 with a thesis on optimal development.

Career

Dasgupta's academic career began with a lectureship at the London School of Economics. He subsequently held professorial positions at the University of Cambridge, where he was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, and at the University of Manchester. He has held numerous visiting appointments at prestigious institutions worldwide, including Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Harvard University. From 1991 to 1997, he served as the president of the Royal Economic Society. He is a founding member of both the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics in Stockholm and the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.

Research and Contributions

Dasgupta's research is foundational to the modern understanding of the interplay between human well-being and the natural environment. He challenged conventional economic growth metrics like Gross Domestic Product by pioneering the concept of inclusive wealth, which accounts for natural capital and human capital. His influential textbook, *Economics: A Very Short Introduction*, frames economics around quality of life and environmental constraints. A landmark contribution is the 2021 Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity, which argued for treating nature as a vital asset. His earlier theoretical work, often with Geoffrey Heal, explored the economics of exhaustible resources and social capital.

Awards and Honours

Dasgupta has received extensive recognition for his transformative work. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to economics. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Foreign Associate of the United States National Academy of Sciences. His major international prizes include the 2002 Volvo Environment Prize, the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, and the 2016 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan by the Government of India. He holds honorary doctorates from numerous universities, including the University of Bath and the University of York.

Selected Works

* *Guidelines for Project Evaluation* (1972) * *The Control of Resources* (1982) * *An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution* (1993) * *Human Well-Being and the Natural Environment* (2001) * *Economics: A Very Short Introduction* (2007) * *The Dasgupta Review: The Economics of Biodiversity* (2021)

Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:British economists Category:University of Cambridge faculty Category:Knights Bachelor