Persons

Allen was born in Worcester & educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester, from which he won a scholarship to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He gained a First classes Honours in Mathematics, ranking top of his year as the Senior Wrangler.

He became a lecturer at the London School of Economics LSE later becoming Professor of Statistics. He wrote numerous papers and books on mathematical economics including the famous paper on A Reconsideration of the view of Value published in Economics in 1934 with Sir John Hicks. Other books include: Mathematical Analysis for Economists 1938, Statistics for Economists 1949, Mathematical Economics 1956, and Macroeconomic Theory 1967.

Allen was knighted in 1966 for his services to economics and became president of the Royal Statistical Society, who awarded him the Guy Medal in Gold in 1978. He was also treasurer of the British Academy of which he was a fellow FBA.

He presentation the concept of "partial elasticity of substitution" to economics in his famous 1938 book "Mathematical Analysis for Economists".

Allen became a fellow of Sidney Sussex, Cambridge and died in 1983. He had a son Jeremy who was a co-founder of the consultancy International Planning and Research and a grandson Dion aka Neon.