View source for Gary Becker

{{Short description|American economist (1930–2014)}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox economist
| name              = Gary Becker
| birth_name        = Gary Stanley Becker
| school_tradition  = [[Chicago School of Economics]]
| image             = GaryBecker-May24-2008.jpg
| caption           = Becker in 2008
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1930|12|2|mf=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Pottsville, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2014|05|03|1930|12|2}}
| death_place       = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], U.S.
| institution       = [[Columbia University]]<br>(1957–1968)<br>[[University of Chicago]]<br>(1968–2014)
| field             = [[Economics]]
| doctoral_advisor  = [[H. Gregg Lewis]]
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students = [[David O. Meltzer]]<br>[[Russ Roberts]]<br>[[Walter Block]]<br>[[Shoshana Grossbard]]<br>[[Darius Lakdawalla]]<br>[[Rodrigo R. Soares]]<br>[[Scott Drewianka]]
| notable_students  =
| influences        = [[Milton Friedman]]<br>[[Theodore Schultz]]
| contributions     = ''[[A Treatise on the Family]]'' (1981)<br>[[Human capital]]<br>[[Rotten kid theorem]]
| awards            = [[John Bates Clark Medal]] (1967)<br>[[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] (1992)<br>[[Pontifical Academy of Sciences]] (1997)<br>[[National Medal of Science]] (2000)<br>[[John von Neumann Award]] (2004)<br>[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (2007)|education=[[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[University of Chicago]] ([[PhD]])
}}
{{Chicago School (economics)}}
'''Gary Stanley Becker''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɛ|k|ər}}; December 2, 1930 – May 3, 2014) was an American economist who received the 1992 [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1992/becker/biographical/|title=The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1992|website=NobelPrize.org|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-03}}</ref> He was a professor of [[economics]] and [[sociology]] at the [[University of Chicago]], and was a leader of the third generation of the [[Chicago school of economics]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bfi.uchicago.edu/about/legacy/|title=Our Legacy|website=BFI|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.economicprincipals.com/issues/2014.11.16/1664.html|title=The Fourth Generation in Chicago|date=2014-11-16|website=Economic Principals|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-03|archive-date=September 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901063148/http://www.economicprincipals.com/issues/2014.11.16/1664.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Becker was awarded the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] in 1992 and received the United States [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] in 2007. A 2011 survey of economics professors named Becker their favorite living economist over the age of 60, followed by [[Kenneth Arrow]] and [[Robert Solow]]. Economist [[Justin Wolfers]] called him "the most important social scientist in the past 50 years."<ref>Justin Wolfers. "How Gary Becker Transformed the Social Sciences" [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/upshot/how-gary-becker-transformed-the-social-sciences.html ''New York Times'' May 5, 2014]</ref>

Becker was one of the first economists to analyze topics that had been researched in [[sociology]], including [[racial discrimination]], [[crime]], family organization, and [[rational addiction]]. He argued that many different types of human behavior can be seen as rational and utility-maximizing, including those that are often regarded as self-destructive or irrational. His approach also extended to altruistic aspects of human behavior, which he showed to sometimes have self-serving ends (when individuals' utility is properly defined and measured, that is). He was also among the foremost exponents of the study of [[human capital]]. According to [[Milton Friedman]], he was "the greatest social scientist who has lived and worked" in the second part of the twentieth century.<ref>Catherine Rampell. "Gary Becker, an economist who changed economics"[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/catherine-rampell-gary-becker-an-economist-who-changed-economics/2014/05/05/9f3a5efc-d457-11e3-8a78-8fe50322a72c_story.html ''Washington Post'' May 5, 2014]</ref>

==Early life and education==
Becker was born to a [[American Jews|Jewish]] family<ref>{{cite web<!--Citation bot --> | title = Gary Becker (1930–2014) | url = https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/becker.html | website = jewishvirtuallibrary.org | publisher = [[Jewish Virtual Library]] | access-date= March 29, 2015}}</ref> in [[Pottsville, Pennsylvania]]. He received a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] from [[Princeton University]] in 1951, completing a senior thesis titled "The Theory of Multi-Country Trade".<ref>{{Cite thesis|url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/dsp019k41zf49k |title=The Theory of Multi-Country Trade |last=Becker |first=Gary Stanley}}</ref> He then earned a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] from the [[University of Chicago]] in 1955 with a thesis entitled ''The Economics of Discrimination''.<ref>{{cite book | author = Gary Becker | title = The Economics of Discrimination | url = https://archive.org/details/economicsofdiscr0000beck | url-access = registration | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year = 1971 | isbn = 9780226041049}}</ref> At Chicago, Becker was influenced by [[Milton Friedman]], whom Becker called "by far the greatest living teacher I have ever had".<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Daniel B. Klein |author2=Ryan Daza | title = Ideological profiles of the economics laureates: Gary S. Becker | journal = Econ Journal Watch | volume = 100 | issue = 3 | pages = 285–291 | date = September 2013}}</ref> Becker credits Friedman's course on microeconomics for helping to renew his interest in economics. Becker also noted that during his time at Chicago, there were several other economists that greatly influenced his future work, namely [[H. Gregg Lewis|Gregg Lewis]], [[Theodore Schultz|T. W. Schultz]], [[Aaron Director]], and [[Leonard Jimmie Savage|L. J. Savage]].<ref name="nobelbio">{{cite web |author=Gary Becker |date=3 May 2014 |title=Gary S. Becker – Biographical |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/1992/becker-bio.html |publisher=Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences}}</ref>

== Career ==
For a few years, Becker worked as an assistant professor at Chicago and conducted research there.<ref name="nobelbio" /> Before turning 30, he moved to teach at [[Columbia University]] in 1957 while also conducting research at the [[National Bureau of Economic Research]]. In 1970 Becker returned to the University of Chicago, and in 1983 was offered a joint appointment by the Sociology Department of Chicago.<ref name="nobelbio" /> In 1965 he was elected as a [[Fellow of the American Statistical Association]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.amstat.org/awards/fellowslist.cfm|title=View/Search Fellows of the ASA|access-date=August 20, 2016|archive-date=June 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616161612/https://www.amstat.org/awards/fellowslist.cfm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Becker was a founding partner of TGG Group, a business and philanthropy consulting company. Becker won the [[John Bates Clark Medal]] in 1967. He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1972,<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web |title= Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B| url= http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf | publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences}}</ref> a member of the [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1975,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gary S. Becker |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/57881.html |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> and a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Gary+Becker&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=search.amphilsoc.org |archive-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512152043/https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Gary+Becker&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |url-status=dead }}</ref> Becker was a member, and later the president of, the [[Mont Pelerin Society]].<ref name="membership2010">{{cite web|title= Mont Pelerin Society Directory|url= http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Mont%20Pelerin%20Society%20Directory%202010.pdf|publisher= DeSmogBlog|access-date= September 10, 2014|archive-date= September 23, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150923214739/http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Mont%20Pelerin%20Society%20Directory%202010.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref> Becker received the Nobel Prize in 1992 "for having extended the domain of microeconomic analysis to a wide range of human behavior and interaction, including nonmarket behavior".<ref>{{cite web | last = Staff writer | title = Gary S. Becker – Facts | url = https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/1992/becker-facts.html | website = nobelprize.org | publisher = [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Nobel Media AB]] | date = June 6, 2006}}</ref> Becker also received the [[National Medal of Science]] in 2000.<ref>{{cite web | title=Home page | url=http://home.uchicago.edu/~gbecker | publisher=University of Chicago | access-date=December 11, 2004 | archive-date=April 16, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416033101/http://home.uchicago.edu/~gbecker/ | url-status=dead}}</ref> Becker received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 2001, presented by Awards Council member and Nobel Prize laureate [[Leon M. Lederman]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=2001 |title= Jeffrey P. Bezos Biography Photo | url= https://achievement.org/achiever/jeffrey-p-bezos/ |quote= Seated from left to right: Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Barak, nautical archaeologist Dr. George Bass, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics Gary S. Becker, CEO of Hearst Corporation Frank A. Bennack, Jr., CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos, and director of the National Gallery of Art J. Carter Brown at the honoree reception prior to the Banquet of the Golden Plate ceremonies during the American Academy of Achievement's 2001 Summit held in San Antonio.}}</ref> Becker's work has over 200,000 citations on Google Scholar.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Becker |first=Gary |date=March 20, 2025 |title=Google Scholar |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C10&q=gary+becker&btnG= }}</ref>

A political [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]],<ref name="Teles2012">{{citation | author = Steven M. Teles | title = The rise of the conservative legal movement: the battle for control of the law | page = 98 | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 2008 | isbn = 9781400829699}}</ref> he wrote a monthly column for ''[[Business Week]]'' from  1985 to 2004, alternating with liberal Princeton economist [[Alan Blinder]]. In 1996 Becker was a senior adviser to Republican presidential candidate [[Robert Dole]].<ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |author =Robert D. Hershey Jr. |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/05/business/economy/gary-s-becker-83-nobel-winner-who-applied-economics-to-everyday-life-dies.html |title= Gary S. Becker, 83, Nobel Winner Who Applied Economics to Everyday Life, Dies |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date= 4 May 2014}}</ref> In December 2004, Becker started a joint weblog with Judge [[Richard Posner]] entitled ''The Becker-Posner Blog''.<ref>{{cite web | title = The Becker-Posner Blog | url = http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/beckerposner | publisher = University of Chicago Law School}}</ref>

==Economic analysis==
Becker's work has been influential not only in economics but also other disciplines including sociology and demography. His most famous work is ''Human Capital'', and he wrote on sociological topics as diverse as marriage, the family, criminal behavior, and racial discrimination.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Robert H. |title=Economics as Religion |url=https://archive.org/details/economicsasrelig00nels |url-access=limited |date=2001 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/economicsasrelig00nels/page/n220 194]}}</ref>

===Discrimination===
Becker recognized that people (employers, customers, and employees) sometimes do not want to work with minorities because they have bias against the disadvantaged groups. He went on to say that discrimination increases a firm's cost because in discriminating against certain workers, the employer would have to pay more to other workers so that work can proceed without the biased ones. If the employer employs the minority, low wages can be provided, but more people can be employed, and productivity can be increased.<ref>{{cite web | title = Economics explains how discrimination can persist in the labor market | date = 7 October 2013 | url = http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-management/money/economics/economics-explains-discrimination-the-labour-market/content-section-0 | publisher = Open University | access-date = January 28, 2016 | archive-date = October 7, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131007195824/http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-management/money/economics/economics-explains-discrimination-the-labour-market/content-section-0 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

===Politics===
Becker's contributions to politics have come to be known as "Chicago political economy" of which he is considered one of the founding fathers.<ref>Filip Palda (2016) A Better Kind of Violence, Chicago Political Economy, Public Choice, and the Quest for an Ultimate Theory of Power, Cooper-Wolfling Press</ref>

Becker's insight was to recognize that [[deadweight loss]]es put a brake on predation. He took the well-known insight that deadweight losses are proportional to the square of the tax, and used it to argue that a linear increase in takings by a predatory interest group will provoke a non-linear increase in the deadweight losses its victim suffers. These rapidly increasing losses will prod victims to invest equivalent sums in resisting attempts on their wealth. The advance of predators, fueled by linear incentives, slows before the stiffening resistance of prey outraged by non-linear damages.<ref>{{Cite journal | author = Gary Becker | title = A theory of competition among pressure groups for political influence | journal = Quarterly Journal of Economics | volume = 98 | issue = 3 | pages = 371–400 | date = August 1983 | doi = 10.2307/1886017 | jstor = 1886017 }}</ref>

===Crime and punishment===
Jurist [[Richard Posner]] has stressed the enormous influence of Becker's work which "has turned out to be a fount of economic writing on crime and its control",<ref>{{cite book | author= Richard A. Posner | title = Frontiers of legal theory | page = 52 | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2004 | isbn = 9780674013605 }}</ref> as well as the analytics of crime and punishment.<ref>{{citation | editor = Bernard Harcourt | title = The illusion of free markets: punishment and the myth of natural order | pages = 133–134 | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 9780674057265 }}</ref>

While Becker acknowledged that many people operate under a high moral and ethical constraint, criminals rationally see that the benefits of their crime outweigh the cost which depends upon the probability of apprehension, conviction, and punishment, and their current set of opportunities. From a public policy perspective, since the cost of increasing a fine is trivial in comparison to the cost of increasing surveillance, one can conclude that the best policy is to maximize the fine and minimize surveillance.<ref>{{citation | contribution = Crime and punishment: an economic approach | author = Gary Becker | title = Essays in the economics of crime and punishment | pages = 1–54 | publisher = National Bureau of Economic Research distributed by Columbia University Press | location = New York | year = 1974 | isbn = 9780870142635}}</ref>

===Human capital===
In his 1964 book ''Human capital theories'' Becker introduced the economic concept of [[human capital]]. This book is now a classic in economy research and Becker went on to become a defining proponent of the [[Chicago school of economics]]. The book was republished in 1975 and 1993. Becker considered labor economics to be part of capital theory. He mused that "economists and plan-makers have fully agreed with the concept of investing on human beings".<ref>{{Cite book|title= Business, Economics, Financial Sciences, and Management |author= Min Zhu |publisher= Springer Science & Business Media| year=2012 |isbn=9783642279669 |page= 436}}</ref>

=== Modern household economics ===
Together, Becker and [[Jacob Mincer]] founded Modern Household Economics, sometimes called the New Home Economics (NHE), in the 1960s at the labor workshop at Columbia University that they both directed. [[Shoshana Grossbard]], who was a student of Becker at the University of Chicago, first published a history of the NHE at Columbia and Chicago in 2001.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Grossbard-Shechtman Shoshana | year = 2001 | title = The New Home Economics at Columbia and Chicago | journal = Feminist Economics | volume = 7 | issue = 3| pages = 103–130 | doi = 10.1080/13545700110111136 | s2cid = 153814425 }}</ref> After receiving feedback from the NHE founders she revised her account.<ref>Shoshana Grossbard (2006) "The New Home Economics at Columbia and Chicago" in Jacob Mincer: A Pioneer of Modern Labor Economics, edited by S Grossbard, Springer</ref>

Among the first publications in Modern Household Economics were Becker (1960) on fertility,<ref>Becker, Gary S.  1960. "An Economic Analysis of Fertility." In National Bureau Committee for Economic Research, Demographic and Economic Change in Developed Countries, a Conference of the Universities. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press</ref> Mincer (1962) on women's labor supply,<ref>{{cite book | author = Jacob Mincer |year=1962 |chapter=Labor Force Participation of Married Women: a Study of Labor Supply |editor= H. Gregg Lewis |title=Aspects of Labor Economics |publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref> and Becker (1965) on the allocation of time.<ref>{{cite journal |author = Gary Becker |title=A Theory of the Allocation of Time |journal= The Economic Journal |volume=75 |issue=299 |year=1965 |pages= 493–517|doi=10.2307/2228949 |jstor=2228949 }}</ref><ref>Jan De Vries (2008) ''The industrious revolution: consumer behavior and the household economy'', Cambridge, p. 26 {{ISBN?}}</ref> Students and faculty who attended the Becker-Mincer workshop at Columbia in the 1960s and have published in the NHE tradition include Andrea Beller, [[Barry Chiswick]], Carmel Chiswick, [[Victor Fuchs]], [[Michael Grossman (economist)|Michael Grossman]], Robert Michael, [[June E. O'Neill]], Sol Polachek, and Robert Willis. [[James Heckman]] was also influenced by the NHE tradition and attended the labor workshop at Columbia from 1969 until his move to the University of Chicago. The NHE may be seen as a subfield of [[family economics]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Berk Richard A., Fenstermaker Berk Sarah | year = 1983 | title = Supply-side sociology of the family: The challenge of the new home economics | journal = Annual Review of Sociology | volume = 9 | issue = 1| pages = 375–395 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.so.09.080183.002111 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Grossbard-Shechtman Shoshana | year = 2001 | title = The new home economics at Colombia and Chicago | journal = Feminist Economics | volume = 7 | issue = 3| pages = 103–130 | doi = 10.1080/13545700110111136 | s2cid = 153814425 }}</ref>

In 2013, responding to a lack of women in top positions in the United States, Becker told the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' reporter [[David Wessel]], "A lot of barriers [to women and blacks] have been broken down. That's all for the good.  It's much less clear what we see today is the result of such artificial barriers. Going home to take care of the kids when the man doesn't: Is that a waste of a woman's time? There's no evidence that it is."  This view was criticized by [[Charles I. Jones|Charles Jones]], stating that, "Productivity could be 9 percent to 15 percent higher, potentially, if all barriers were eliminated."<ref>{{cite news| author= David Wessel |title=The Economics of Leaning In|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323916304578400192414995044?mod=e2fb|access-date=4 April 2013|newspaper= The Wall Street Journal|date= 3 April 2013}}</ref>

=== Home production ===
In the mid-1960s Becker and [[Kelvin Lancaster]] developed the economic concept of a household production function. Both assumed that [[consumer]]s in a household receive utility from the goods they purchase. Such as for example, when consumers purchase raw food. If it is cooked, a utility arises from the meal. In 1981 Becker published ''Treatise on the Family'', where he stressed the importance of [[division of labor]] and [[Gain (accounting)|gains]] from [[Specification (technical standard)|specification]].<ref>{{Cite book|title= Economic Growth with Income and Wealth Distribution |author= Wei Zhang |publisher= Springer | year= 2006 |isbn=9780230506336 |page=71}}</ref>

=== Economics of the family ===
During Becker's time at Chicago in the 1970s, he mostly focused on the family. He had previously done work on birth rates and family size, and he used this time to expand his understanding of how economics works within a family.<ref name="nobelbio" /> Some specific family issues covered during this time were marriage, divorce, altruism toward other members of the family, investments by parents in their children, and long-term changes in what families do. All of Becker's research on the family resulted in ''A Treatise on the Family'' (1981). Throughout the decade, he contributed new ideas and information, and in 1991 an expanded edition of the work was published. His research applies basic economic assumptions such as maximizing behavior, preferences, and equilibrium to the family. He analyzed determinants for marriage and divorce, family size, parents' allocation of time to their children, and changes in wealth over several generations. This publication was an extensive overview of the economics of the family and helped to unite economics with other fields like sociology and anthropology.<ref>Becker, Gary S. ([1981] 1991).  ''A Treatise on the Family'',  Enl. edition. [https://books.google.com/books?id=NLB1Ty75DOIC Description] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=NLB1Ty75DOIC&pg=PR7 preview]. Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0674906985}}.</ref>

==== Rotten kid theorem ====
At the core of Becker's economic theory on the [[family]], which he developed on the basis of figures for United States families in 1981, is the ''rotten kid theorem''. He applied the economics of an ''altruist'' to a family, wherein a person takes actions that improve the well-being of another person, despite more self-interested action being feasible. Becker pointed out that a parent forgoes higher income, by focusing on family work commitments in order to maximize a well-meaning objective. Becker also theorized that a child in a US family may be perfectly selfish because it maximizes its own utility. There have been attempts to test this economic thesis, in the course of which it was found that cross-generational families do not necessarily maximize their joint income.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Game Theory Evolving: A Problem-centered Introduction to Modeling Strategic Behavior |author=Herbert Gintis |publisher= Princeton University Press|year=2000 |isbn=9780691009438 |pages=34–35}}</ref>

===Organ markets===
A 2007 article by Gary Becker and [[Julio Jorge Elias]] entitled "Introducing Incentives in the market for live and cadaveric organ donations"<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Gary Becker |author2=Julio Jorge Elías | title = Introducing incentives in the market for live and cadaveric organ donations | journal = Journal of Economic Perspectives | volume = 21 | issue = 3 | pages = 3–24 | date = Summer 2007 | doi = 10.1257/jep.21.3.3 | pmid = 19728419 | doi-access = free }}</ref> posited that a free market could help solve the problem of a scarcity in organ transplants. Their economic modeling was able to estimate the price tag for human kidneys (about US$15,000) and human livers (about US$32,000). It is argued by critics that this particular market would exploit the underprivileged donors from the developing world.<ref>{{Cite journal | author = Vivekanand Jha & Kirpal S. Chugh | title = The case against a regulated system of living kidney sales | journal = Nature Clinical Practice Nephrology | volume = 2 | issue = 9 | pages = 466–467 | date = September 2006 | doi = 10.1038/ncpneph0268 | pmid = 16941033 | s2cid = 9253108 }}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Becker's first wife was Doria Slote. They were married from 1954 until her death in 1970.<ref name="nobelbio" /> The marriage produced two daughters, Catherine Becker and [[Judy Becker]].<ref name="nytobit" /> About ten years later, in 1980<ref name="nobelbio" /> Becker married [[Guity Nashat]], a [[historian]] of the [[Middle East]] whose research interests overlapped his own.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gary S. Becker profile |url=http://home.uchicago.edu/~gbecker/biography/biography_2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013003330/http://home.uchicago.edu/~gbecker/biography/biography_2.html |archive-date=October 13, 2014 |access-date=July 15, 2007 |publisher=[[University of Chicago]]}}</ref>

In 2014 Becker died in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], aged 83.<ref name="uchi">{{cite web |author=William Harms |date=4 May 2014 |title=Gary S. Becker, Nobel-winning scholar of economics and sociology, 1930–2014 |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2014/05/04/gary-s-becker-nobel-winning-scholar-economics-and-sociology-1930-2014 |publisher=[[University of Chicago]]}}</ref> The same year, he was honored in a three-day conference organized at the University of Chicago.<ref>{{cite news |last=Palda |first=Filip |date=4 November 2014 |title=A school in decline: In Chicago, economists honour Gary Becker |url=https://financialpost.com/opinion/a-school-in-decline |newspaper=Financial Post}}</ref>

==Selected publications==
* {{cite book | author = Gary Becker | title = Human capital: a theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education | publisher = The University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | orig-year = 1964 | year = 1993 |edition=3rd | isbn = 9780226041209 }}
* {{Cite journal |author = Gary Becker | title = A theory of the allocation of time | journal = [[The Economic Journal]] | volume = 75 | issue = 299 | pages = 493–517 | date = September 1965 | doi = 10.2307/2228949 | jstor = 2228949 }}
* {{Cite journal |author = Gary Becker | title = Una teoría de la distribución del tiempo | journal = [[Estudios Económicos]] | volume = 5 | issue = 9/10 | pages = 71–112  | date = December 1966 | doi = 10.52292/j.estudecon.1966.1032 | s2cid = 245198057 | doi-access = free }}
* {{citation  | author = Gary Becker | contribution = Discrimination, economic | editor-last = Sills | editor-first = David L. | title = International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, Vol. 4 Cumu to Elas | pages = 208–210 | publisher = Macmillan | location = New York, New York | year = 1968 }}
* {{Cite journal | author = Gary Becker | title = Crime and punishment: an economic approach | journal = [[Journal of Political Economy]] | volume = 76 | issue = 2 | pages = 169–217 | date = March 1968 | doi = 10.1086/259394 | url = https://semanticscholar.org/paper/f252e0a5a33891158be5ee683493ae13280c82ff }}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{citation  | author = Gary Becker | contribution = An economic analysis of fertility | editor = National Bureau of Economic Research | title = Demographic and economic change in developed countries, a conference of the universities | pages = 209–240 | publisher = [[Columbia University Press]] | location = New York | year = 1969 | isbn = 9780870143021 }}
* {{cite book | author = Gary Becker | title = The economics of discrimination | url = https://archive.org/details/economicsofdiscr0000beck | url-access = registration | publisher = University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | year = 1971 | isbn = 9780226041049 }}
* {{cite book | author = Gary Becker | title = The economics of discrimination | url = https://archive.org/details/economicsofdiscr0000beck | url-access = registration | publisher = University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago  |orig-date=1957 | year = 1971 | isbn = 9780226041155 }}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Duncan |first=Otis Dudley |date=1958 |title=Review of The Economics of Discrimination. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2773089 |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=63 |issue=5 |page=548 |doi=10.1086/222313 |jstor=2773089 |issn=0002-9602}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Guy B. |date=1958 |title=Review of The Economics of Discrimination. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2572813 |journal=Social Forces |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=180–181 |doi=10.2307/2572813 |jstor=2572813 |issn=0037-7732}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Krueger |first=Anne O. |date=1963 |title=The Economics of Discrimination |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1829018 |journal=Journal of Political Economy |volume=71 |issue=5 |pages=481–486 |doi=10.1086/258796 |jstor=1829018 |issn=0022-3808}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reder |first=M. W. |date=1958 |title=Review of The Economics of Discrimination |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1809813 |journal=The American Economic Review |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=495–500 |jstor=1809813 |issn=0002-8282}}</ref>
* {{Cite journal |author1=Gary Becker |author2=H. Gregg Lewis | title = On the interaction between the quantity and quality of children | journal = Journal of Political Economy | volume = 81 | issue = 2 | pages = 279–288 | date = March 1973 | doi = 10.1086/260166 | s2cid = 152624744 | url = http://www.nber.org/chapters/c2963.pdf }}
* {{Cite journal | author = Gary Becker | title = A theory of marriage: part I | journal = [[Journal of Political Economy]] | volume = 81 | issue = 4 | pages = 813–846 | date = July 1973 | doi = 10.1086/260084 | s2cid = 152514496 }}
* {{cite book | author = Gary Becker | title = Essays in the economics of crime and punishment | publisher = National Bureau of Economic Research distributed by Columbia University Press | location = New York | year = 1974 | isbn = 9780870142635 }}
* {{Cite journal | author = Gary Becker | title = A theory of marriage: part II | journal = Journal of Political Economy | volume = 82 | issue = 2 | pages = 11–26 |  date = March 1974 | doi = 10.1086/260287 | s2cid = 222442284 }}
* {{Cite journal | author = Gary Becker | title = A theory of social interactions | journal = [[Journal of Political Economy]] | volume = 82 | issue = 6 | pages = 1063–1093 | date = November 1974 | doi = 10.1086/260265 | s2cid = 145041880 | url = http://www.nber.org/papers/w0042.pdf }}
* {{Cite book |author1=Gary Becker |author2=Gilbert Ghez | title = The allocation of time and goods over the life cycle | publisher = National Bureau of Economic Research Distributed by Columbia University Press | location = New York | year = 1975 | isbn = 9780870145148 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/allocationoftime0000ghez }}
* {{citation | author = Gary Becker | contribution = Price and prejudice | editor-last = Becker | editor-first = Gary S. | title = The economic approach to human behavior | pages = 15–17 | publisher = University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | year = 1976 | isbn = 9780226041124 }}
* {{Cite journal |author1=Gary Becker |author2=George J. Stigler | title = De gustibus non est disputandum | journal = [[The American Economic Review]] | volume = 67 | issue = 2 | pages = 76–90 | date = March 1977 }}
* {{Cite journal |author1=Gary Becker |author2=Elizabeth Landes |author3=Robert T. Michael | title = An economic analysis of marital instability | journal = [[Journal of Political Economy]] | volume = 85 | issue = 6 | pages = 1147–1187 | jstor = 1837421 | date = December 1977 | doi = 10.1086/260631 | s2cid = 53494363 }}
* {{cite book | author = Gary Becker | title = A treatise on the family | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | year = 1991 | orig-year = 1981 | isbn = 9780674906983 | url = https://archive.org/details/treatiseonfamily00beck }}
* {{Cite journal | author = Gary Becker | title = A theory of competition among pressure groups for political influence | journal = [[Quarterly Journal of Economics]] | volume = 98 | issue = 3 | pages = 371–400 | date = August 1983 | doi = 10.2307/1886017 | jstor = 1886017 }}
* {{Cite journal | author = Gary Becker | title = Human capital, effort, and the sexual division of labor | journal = Journal of Labor Economics | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages = 33–58 | date = January 1985 }}
* {{Cite journal |author1=Gary Becker |author2=Kevin M. Murphy | s2cid = 6421803 | title = A theory of rational addiction | journal = [[Journal of Political Economy]] | volume = 96 | issue = 4 | pages = 675–700 | date = August 1988 | doi = 10.1086/261558 | hdl = 10419/262443 | hdl-access = free }}
* {{cite web | author = Gary Becker | title = Nobel prize lecture: the economic way of looking at life | url = https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1992/becker/lecture/ | website = nobelprize.org | publisher = [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Nobel Media AB]] | date = 9 December 1992 }}
* {{cite book | author = Gary Becker | title = Accounting for tastes | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]] | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | year = 1996 | isbn = 9780674543560 | url = https://archive.org/details/accountingfortas00beck }}
* {{cite book |author1=Gary Becker |author2=Guity Nashat Becker | title = The economics of life: from baseball to affirmative action to immigration, how real-world issues affect our everyday life | url = https://archive.org/details/economicsoflifef00beck | url-access = registration | publisher = McGraw-Hill | year = 1997 | isbn = 9780070067097 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Gary Becker |author2=Kevin M. Murphy | title = Social economics market behavior in a social environment | publisher = Belknap Press of Harvard University Press | year = 2000 | isbn = 9780674011212 }}
* {{Cite journal |author1=Gary Becker |author2=Julio Jorge Elías | title = Introducing incentives in the market for live and cadaveric organ donations | journal = [[Journal of Economic Perspectives]] | volume = 21 | issue = 3 | pages = 3–24 | date = May 2007 | doi = 10.1257/jep.21.3.3 | pmid = 19728419 | doi-access = free }}
* {{citation | author = Gary Becker | contribution = When illegals stop crossing the border | editor-last = Miniter | editor-first = Brendan | title = The 4% solution unleashing the economic growth America needs | publisher = Crown Business | location = New York | year = 2012 | isbn = 9780307986153 | title-link = The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs }}

==See also==
* [[Social capital]]
* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=Gary Stanley Becker (1930– ) |url=http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Becker.html |encyclopedia=[[The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics]] |edition=2nd |series=[[Library of Economics and Liberty]] |publisher=[[Liberty Fund]] |year=2008|isbn=9780865976665 |editor-first=David R.|editor-last=Henderson |editor-link=David R. Henderson |page=525 }}
* {{cite book |last= Steelman |first= Aaron|author-link=|editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |title=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |chapter=  Becker, Gary (1930– ) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC |year=2008 |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |doi= |isbn= 9781412965804 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages=28–30 |chapter-url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n18.xml}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Nobelprize}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname= Gary Becker}}
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{{s-bef | before = [[Ronald H. Coase]] }}
{{s-ttl | title = [[List of Nobel Memorial Prize laureates in Economics|Laureate of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics]] | years = 1992 }}
{{s-aft | after = [[Robert W. Fogel]] | after2 = [[Douglass C. North]]}}
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