Erik Lindahl

Who was Erik Lindahl?

Erik Lindahl was a Swedish economist. He was professor of economics at Uppsala University 1942-58. He was an advisor to the Swedish government and the central bank. Lindahl posed the question of financing public goods in accordance with individual benefits. The quantity of the public good satisfies the requirement that the aggregate marginal benefit equals the marginal cost of providing the good.

The necessary and sufficient condition for such an equilibrium being -

the sum of the declared willingness be greater than the cost of provision and

the minimum willingness to pay is positive and non-zero .

Lindahl was elected in 1943 as member # 909 of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.