SIMON, Herbert (Simon)

genus. June 15, 1916, Mr..


Memory of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1978.


American sociologist and educator Gerberg Alexander Simon was born in g. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was the second son of Arthur Simon and Edna (nee Merkel) Simon. His father, an engineer, electrical engineer, inventor and lawyer in the field of patent law in 1905. emigrated from Germany. His mother, the third generation Americans of Czech and Germanic origin, was an excellent pianist. Studying in Milwaukee high school, C. received, as he later recalled, 'an excellent general education'. The atmosphere in the house to promote the intellectual development of children. The dining table was a place of discussion and debate - sometimes academic, often political. Fascination with. his uncle, Harold Merkel, an economist and author of works on economics and psychology, inspired his interest in the social sciences.

By 1933, when C. enrolled in the University of Chicago, he decided to become a scientist and mathematician in the field of social sciences. In his curriculum consisted of political economy, logic, mathematics, biophysics and Econometrics. Studying the physics of the student, he showed preserved throughout the subsequent life interest in the philosophical problems of physics and subsequently published several articles on these issues.

Received in 1936. Bachelor's degree, C. became a research-assistant in the municipal administration of the City of Chicago. His early work in this field led to his appointment in 1939. Director of the Research Group, University of California, engaged in such. Three years later, after the expiration of the period for which research funds were allocated, with. returned to Chicago to continue his studies in graduate school. Along with his studies he worked as an assistant professor of political science at Illinois Institute of Technology.

After receiving in 1943, Mr.. doctoral degree C. remained in the University of Chicago, where in 1946. He was appointed head of the Department of Political Science. In 1948, Mr.. He briefly went to work in public administration, . accept the post of one of the assistants in the United States Government, . order to participate in the creation of the Economic Cooperation Administration, . formed to implement a 'Marshall Plan' (named after the Secretary of State George Marshall) to assist the Western European countries for their economic recovery after World War II,
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In 1949, Mr.. S. moved from Chicago to Pittsburgh, which assisted in the organization of the new Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University. There he became a professor in the administration. Since 1965, Mr.. was a Professor of Computer Science and Psychology. In taking this position, he conducted research in the field of psychology, information processing, computer modeling of cognition, organization theory, artificial intelligence and decision theory.

In 1947, Mr.. was published by one of the few books with. theories of organization decision-making 'Administrative Behavior' ( "Administrative Behavior"). In it he described the business firm as an adaptive system, including material, human and social components, interconnected communications network and a common desire of its members to work together to achieve common goals. S. rejected the traditional understanding of the company as vseveduyuschem, acting rationally to maximize profits now

. Instead, he showed, . that firm decisions are made collectively by its members, . and their ability to rational action is limited as the inability to foresee all the consequences of their decisions, . and their personal aspirations and social perspectives,
. Due to the fact that such a decision-making process can only lead to a satisfactory, but not to the best results, C. concluded that the company set themselves a goal is not maximizing profits, and finding acceptable solutions to emerging challenges facing them. This situation often leads to set goals and conflict.

In the books 'model of man' ( "Models of Man", 1957) and 'Organization' ( "Organization", 1958) From. develops further the theory put forward in the 'Administrative Behavior'. He was confident that the classical theory of decision-making lacks important elements - descriptions of behavioral and cognitive qualities of those who process information and make decisions. The P. James March, with whom P. conducted field studies, told me that C. 'paying attention primarily to the limited memory of a man and his inability to calculations, considering the quality of these apparent obstacles to completely rational behavior. In this way he reached out to the adjacent filament research of others, thus creating a collective vision, which can be called the theory of bounded rationality, or related. In the strict sense - continued to March, - these studies are not theory but a set of observations in the traditional theory of behavior '.

Many of the more recent studies. were devoted to problems of artificial intelligence and computer science. In 1952. discussion with Allen Newell, who worked then scientific researcher in 'RAND CORPORATION', spurred his interest in these issues. They both started together conduct research in the field of solving problems by computer simulation, and over time this area was central to the research activities. Since 1961. Newell, going to Carnegie Mellon University, which he joined as professor, completely joined with. Continuing their collaboration, these scientists have published in 1972. book 'The solution to human problems' ( "Human Problem Solving"). In addition to empirical research in decision-making in business and psychology of business with. examined the relationship between the size of firms and their economic growth and contributed significantly to the central problem of aggregation of micro -.

Theories with. have been criticized, especially by such highly respected economists like Edward Mason, Fritz Machlap and Milton Friedman. While appreciating the dignity of the descriptive theory of decision making S., they questioned its value for economic analysis. In addition, his realistic attitude to the decision-making process undermined the basic postulates of the theory of general equilibrium and the simple hypothesis of maximizing and optimizing the function of profit and utility, on which this theory is based. However, these seemingly antagonistic approaches relate to different sets of problems in economics and therefore are complementary. S. open the empirical testing of hypotheses on which the decision-making process.

With. was awarded the Prize of memory Bela But in economics for 1978. 'for innovative research decision-making process within economic organizations'. During the presentation, and presentation of awards Sune Karlsson, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said that 'the study of the structure of the firm and intra-firm decision-making has become an important task of economic science. And in this new field of work. proved to be extremely important ... Theory and observations. decision-making organizations are fully applicable to the systems and technology planning, budgeting and monitoring of work enjoyed in business, and public administration. They therefore constitute an excellent basis for conducting empirical research '.

In his autobiographical sketch P. noted, . that the 'politics of science, . which stemmed from my other activities, . I have followed two guiding principles - to strive for greater 'severity' of the social sciences in order, . that they were better equipped with tools, . necessary to solve their challenges, . and facilitate close interaction between scientists of the natural and social sciences, . that they can jointly apply their special knowledge and skills to the many complex issues of public policy, . which requires both types of wisdom ',
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In 1937, Mr.. S. married Dorothy Pye. They have a son and two daughters. He himself was fond of walking, mountain climbing, painting and playing the piano. He is fluent in several languages.

In addition to the Nobel Prize, C. won the American Psychological Association 'For outstanding contribution to science' (1969). He is a member of the American Economic Association, American Psychological Association, the Econometric Society, the American Sociological Association, the American National Academy of Sciences. He was awarded honorary degrees by universities of Chicago, Yale, McGill, Lund and Erasmus (Rotterdam).