Binmore To Present Lecture At Instiute For Advanced Study

Kenneth Binmore, professor of economics at University College, London, and visitor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, will speak on "How and Why Did Fairness Norms Evolve?" on November 28 at 4:30 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall on the Institute campus. The lecture will be followed by a reception in the Common Room of Fuld Hall.

"Modern hunter-gathering societies across the world share their resources on a very equal basis," states Binmore. "Was this also true of our prehistoric ancestors? If so, does this explain our own thirst for fair treatment and social justice?" Binmore says his lecture will explore the implications of this line of thought, "using the theory of games as a tool of inquiry."

Binmore, who is also Director of University College's Centre for Economic Learning and Social Evolution, has previously held professorships at the London School of Economics and the University of Michigan, as well as visiting faculty positions at the State University of New York at Albany, the University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University.

He was awarded the CBE in the New Years Honours List 2001, largely for his role in designing Britain's 35-billion-dollar 3G Spectrum, an auction of the UK's third-generation mobile phone licenses. The science of auctions is an aspect of game theory, on which Binmore is a recognized authority.

His many books include Game Theory and the Social Contract, I: Playing Fair (1994) and Game Theory and the Social Contract, II: Just Playing (1998); Essays on the Foundations of Games (1990); and Fun and Games: A Text on Game Theory (1991). He is also editor of the MIT Press series on Economic Learning and Social Evolution.

His research interests encompass, in addition to game theory, experimental economics, evolutionary psychology, mathematical analysis, and political philosophy.

Binmore is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Econometric Society. A mathematics graduate of Imperial College, University of London, he earned his Ph.D. in mathematical analysis at the same institution.

Binmore's talk is one of a series of public lectures presented by the Institute for Advanced Study during the academic year 2001-2002.