Edwin Mills (economist)

Edwin Smith Mills III (June 25, 1928 – October 29, 2021) was an American economist known for his contributions to urban economics. Mills was a long-time faculty member at Johns Hopkins University (1957–1970), Princeton University (1970–1987), and Northwestern University (1987–1996). He was the founding editor of the Journal of Urban Economics.

A native of Collingswood, New Jersey, Mills graduated from Collingswood High School in 1946 and then served for two years as an officer with the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

He received an A.B. in Economics from Brown University in 1951 and a PhD in Economics from the University of Birmingham in 1956. His contribution in the field of urban economics is enormously rich. The concept of agglomeration economies, particularly the urbanisation economies, and its manifestation in terms of firm level technical efficiency and productivity growth are some of the pioneering elements of his research. He edited the second volume (titled Urban Economics, 1987) and co-edited with Paul Cheshire the third volume (titled Applied Urban Economics, 1999) of the Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics. His special interest in Indian urbanization is reflected in his co-authored work with Charles M. Becker (Studies in Indian urban development,Oxford University Press, Oxford, for the World Bank, 1986), with Charles M. Becker and Jeffrey G. Williamson (Indian Urbanization and Economic Growth since 1960, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992) and with Arup Mitra (Urban Development and Urban Ills, Commonwealth Publishers, 1997). He contributed to policy making and advised the policy makers in several countries in the world. His understanding of the urban issues both in the developed and developing countries remains incomparable.