H. David Evans, 1941–2022: Progenitor of Computable General Equilibrium Modelling in Australia

Abstract

David Evans was an Australian who completed a path-breaking PhD thesis at Harvard in 1968 under the supervision of Wassily Leontief. The thesis set out Australia’s first computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, with an application to an analysis of Australia’s then policy of high tariffs. David returned to Australia in 1968 but left in 1973 and spent the rest of his career in the UK. Despite his relatively brief time working in Australia, David was a major contributor to Australian economics. In this paper, I start with a few personal reminiscences about David. Then I explain how the Evans model worked, and its limitations. This is followed by a description of what happened in Australian CGE research in the 1970s, post-Evans. Since then, Australia has become well known in this field. The international reach of Australian CGE modelling is described briefly in the final part of the paper.