Martin Shubik (1926-2018) was an American mathematical economist who specialized in game theory, defense analysis, and the theory of money. The latter was his main research interest and he referred to it as his "white whale". He also coined the term "mathematical institutional economics" in 1959 to describe his scholarly approach to studying the economy.[1] He spent the majority of his career at Yale University, where he was heavily involved with the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, and launched the virtual Museum of Money and Financial Institutions.[2]
Outside of economics, he began studying inclusion body myositis (IBM) after a 2003 diagnosis. He provided seed money to the Yale School of Public Health for the IBM Disease Registry in 2011, a survey was conducted in 2012-2013, and he is a co-author on a 2015 paper about the initial results (along with his son-in-law Seth Richards-Shubik).[3]
Martin Shubik was born on 24 March 1926 in New York City, New York to Joseph and Sara Shubik (née Soloveychik) (both of whom were Jewish, but Russian and French, respectively).[4] However, Joseph Shubik worked for a Scottish flax and linen company and the family returned to London when Martin Shubik was just three months old. He remained in England until World War II, when he, Sara Shubik, and younger sister Irene Shubik (1929-2019) were sent to join relatives in Canada, while Joseph Shubik and older brother Philippe Shubik (1921-2004) stayed behind. To fulfill a condition of enrollment in college in Canada during the War, Martin Shubik enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy and held the rank of Lieutenant before retiring in 1950.[5]
Shubik was married to Julie Kahn (d. 2018) and had one child, Claire Louise Shubik (b. 1973). Irene Shubik became a British television producer and Philippe Shubik a cancer researcher.
Shubik's curriculum vitae lists over 20 books and 300 articles, with Shapley being his most frequent collaborator (14 articles).[7] Nash also appears twice, including with Shapley and Mel Hausner on "So Long Sucker - A Four Person Game" about a board game that they invented.[8]
Shubik spent the majority of his career at Yale University, where he was Professor of the Economics of Organization from 1963-1975, then the Seymour H. Knox Professor of Mathematical Institutional Economics from 1975 until his retirement in 2007 (after which he became emeritus). He was also Director of the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics from 1973-1976 and a founding faculty member of the Yale School of Management (originally the School of Organization and Management). He taught courses in economics, game theory, and investment theory and practice.[10]
Mayberry, John; Nash, John; Shubik, Martin (1953). "A Comparison of Treatments of a Duopoly Situation". Econometrica. 21 (1): 141–154. doi:10.2307/1906952. JSTOR1906952. S2CID154750660.
Shapley, Lloyd; Shubik, Martin (1971). "The Assignment Game I: The Core". International Journal of Game Theory. 1 (1): 111–130. doi:10.1007/BF01753437. S2CID153971683.
Shubik, Martin (1971). "The Dollar Auction Game: A Paradox in Noncooperative Behavior and Escalation". The Journal of Conflict Resolution. 15 (1): 109–111. doi:10.1177/002200277101500111. S2CID155038630.
Shubik, Martin (1959). "Edgeworth Market Games". In Tucker, William; Luce, Robert (eds.). Contributions to the Theory of Games, Volume 4. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 267–278. doi:10.1515/9781400882168-016. ISBN9781400882168.
^Shapley, Lloyd; Shubik, Martin (1954). "A Method for Evaluating the Distribution of Power in a Committee System". The American Political Science Review. 48 (3): 787–792. doi:10.2307/1951053. JSTOR1951053. S2CID143514359.
^Shubik, Martin. "Curriculum vitae" (2018) [textual record]. Martin Shubik papers, 1938-2018, Series: Writings, 1951-2018, Box: RL01181-SET-0001, File: Writing electronic files, 2002-2018. Durham: David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Duke University.
^Hausner, Mel; Nash, John; Shapley, Lloyd; Shubik, Martin (1964). "So Long Sucker - A Four-Person Game". In Shubik, Martin (ed.). Game Theory and Related Approaches to Social Behavior: Selections. New York: Wiley. pp. 359–361. ISBN9780471789635.
