Richard A. Lester, 1908-

Princeton economist and labor specialist who initiated the "Marginalism" controversy with a famous 1946 study of entrepreneurial motives, which provoked Machlup's (1946) and Stigler's (1947) defense of marginalist theory. As such, one can argue that Lester initiated "behavioral" theories of the firm. Subsequently, he worked on labor market discrimination and wage differentials.

Major Works of Richard A. Lester

• Monetary Experiments, 1939.
• Economics of Labor, 1941.
• "Shortcomings of Marginal Analysis for Wage-Employment Problems", 1946, AER
• "Marginalism, Minimum Wages and Labor Markets", 1947, AER
• "Southern Wage Differentials: Developments, analysis and implications", 1947, Southern EJ
• "Reflections on the Labor Monopoly Issue", 1947, JPE
• "A Range Theory of Wage Differentials", 1952, Int Labor Relations Rev
• Hiring Practices and Labor Competition, 1954.
• "Reflections on Collective Bargaining in Britain and Sweden", 1957, Int Labor Relations Rev
• Economics of Unemployment Compensation, 1962.
• Reasoning about Discrimination, 1980.

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