Oskar Morgenstern

German-American economist

Written and fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Updated: Nov. 14, 2026

:: Jan. 24, 1902, Görlitz, Ger.

:: July 26, 1977, Princeton, N.J., U.S.

Notable Works:: “The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior”

Subjects Of Study:: game theory

Oskar Morgenstern was a German-born American economist.

Morgenstern taught at the University of Vienna (1929–38) and at Princeton University (1938–70) and New York University (1970–77). With John von Neumann he wrote Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944), applying Neumann’s theory of games of strategy (published 1928) to competitive business. Among his other books are On the Accuracy of Economic Observations (1950), Prolegomena to a Theory of Organization (1951), and Predictability of Stock Market Prices (1970; with C.W.J. Granger).