Herbert E. Scarf

The citation reads as follows:

Herbert Scarf is recognized for his seminal work on the computation of fixed points. He is also recognized for his work on (s,S) policies in inventory theory, for his proof of the convergence of the core to an economic equilibrium, and for his work on balanced games. He has made important contributions to operations research, mathematics, and mathematical economics. It can be said of Herbert Scarf that few others have inspired so many, as his papers have fostered hundreds of others. It is with gratitude for these accomplishments that the von Neumann Prize Committee is delighted to award this year's prize to Herbert E. Scarf.

The Computation of Economic Equilibria by Herbert Scarf with the collaboration of Terje Hansen.

This book presents the first comprehensive treatment of an idea, currently under intense development, which permits the constructive computation of approximate fixed points of continuous mappings. This idea, conceived and developed by Scarf, combines complementarity notions first introduced by Lemke and Howson together with a combinatorial analogue of pivoting in linear programming. Motivated throughout by the need to compute economic equilibria, to find optimum solutions to convex programs, to determine outcomes in the core of an e-person game, the book gives insightful examples and their solutions, and describes algorithms and their computational performances.

The blend of elegant new theory, of computational experimentation, and of practical application to economics, mathematical programming, and game theory is in the highest tradition of the art of operations research.