2000 Nemmers Prize in Economics Recipient

Daniel L. McFadden

For pioneering contributions in econometrics and founding modern econometric research on the analysis of discrete choice

Daniel L. McFadden is the E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics at the University of California-Berkeley.

McFadden has made pioneering contributions in econometrics and has been highly influential in theoretical and applied economics. His 1973 article "Conditional Logit Analysis of Qualitative Choice Behavior" is recognized as one of the most important milestones in the development of microeconometrics, the field that deals with the analysis of economic data using models of consumer and firm behavior. Through this and many subsequent articles and books, McFadden founded modern econometric research on the analysis of discrete choice. The models and methods that he developed have become standard tools used to interpret the decisions made by consumers, firms and governments in a wide variety of contexts.

Among his other major methodological innovations, McFadden has proposed novel estimation methods that use simulation techniques to approximate the values of functions that are otherwise too difficult to calculate. Early in his career, he performed important research on the theoretical and econometric analysis of production decisions by firms. McFadden has, throughout his career, complemented his methodological research with important contributions to many fields of applied economics. He is widely respected for his research on travel demand forecasting, consumer utilization of energy-consuming appliances, the economics of aging, and the use of contingent valuation methods to value public goods.

McFadden has held permanent faculty positions at the University of Pittsburgh, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley. He currently is director of the Econometrics Laboratory at Berkeley.

He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded the John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economics Association and the Frisch Medal of the Econometric Society. McFadden served as president of the Econometric Society in 1985.