TheNobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, often referred to as theNobel Prize in Economics, is an award in the field ofeconomic sciences administered by theNobel Foundation. Officially, it is titled theSveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel[2][3][4] (Swedish:Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), established in 1968 by Sweden's central bank,Sveriges Riksbank, to celebrate its 300th anniversary and in memory ofAlfred Nobel.[5][6][7][8][9]
Although the prize was not one of the original fiveNobel Prizes established by Alfred Nobel's will,[10] it is considered part of the Nobel Prize framework[11] and is administered and referred to along with Nobel Prizes by the Nobel Foundation.[12] Laureates of the Prize in Economic Sciences are chosen in a similar manner to and announced alongside the Nobel Prize recipients, and receive the Prize in Economic Sciences at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony.[10][13]
Since 1968 an endowment "in perpetuity" fromSveriges Riksbank has been paying the Nobel Foundation's administrative expenses associated with the award and funds the monetary component of the award.[14] The amount of the Prize in Economic Sciences remains the same as other prizes, at 11 million Swedish kronor in 2023 and 2024.[19][20][21][22] Since 2006, Sveriges Riksbank has given the Nobel Foundation an annual grant of 6.5 million Swedish kronor (in January 2008, approx.US$1 million;€0.7 million) for its administrative expenses associated with the award as well as 1 million Swedish kronor (until the end of 2008) to include information about the award on the Nobel Foundation's official websites.[23]
The Prize in Economic Sciences is not one of the original five Nobel Prizes endowed byAlfred Nobel in his will.[24][25][26] However, the nomination process, selection criteria, and awards presentation of the Prize in Economic Sciences are performed in a manner similar to that of the original Nobel Prizes.[10][14][21][27]
Laureates are announced with the other Nobel Prize laureates, and receive the award at the same ceremony.[24] TheRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the prize "in accordance with the rules governing the award of the Nobel Prizes instituted through his [Alfred Nobel's] will",[14] which stipulate that the prize be awarded annually to "those who ... shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind".[28]
The Prize in Economic Sciences being announced at the Nobel Prize press conference by the Prize Committee in 2008
According to its official website, theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences "administers a researcher exchange with academies in other countries and publishes six scientific journals. Every year the Academy awards theNobel Prizes in Physics andin Chemistry, the Prize in Economic Sciences, theCrafoord Prize and a number of other large prizes".[15]
Each September the Academy's Economics Prize Committee, which consists of five elected members, "sends invitations to thousands of scientists, members of academies and university professors in numerous countries, asking them to nominate candidates for the Prize in Economics for the coming year. Members of the Academy and former laureates are also authorised to nominate candidates."[14][15][29] All proposals and their supporting evidence must be received before February 1.[26] The proposals are reviewed by the Prize Committee and specially appointed experts. Before the end of September, the committee chooses potential laureates. If there is a tie, the chairman of the committee casts the deciding vote.
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences vote in mid-October to determine the next laureate or laureates of the Prize in Economics.[14][30] As with the Nobel Prizes, no more than three people can share the prize for a given year; they must still be living at the time of the Prize announcement in October; and information about Prize nominations cannot be disclosed publicly for 50 years.[26]
The Laureates of the Prize in economic, physics and chemistry appeared together at an event of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2013
The first prize in economics was awarded in 1969 toRagnar Frisch andJan Tinbergen "for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes".[32] Three women have received the prize:Elinor Ostrom, who won in 2009,Esther Duflo, who won in 2019,[33] andClaudia Goldin, who won in 2023. Goldin was the first woman to win the award solo.[34]
In February 1995, following acrimony within the selection committee pertaining to the awarding of the 1994 Prize in Economics toJohn Forbes Nash, the Prize in Economics was redefined as a prize in social sciences. This made it available to researchers in such topics as political science, psychology, and sociology.[35][36]
Moreover, the composition of the Economics Prize Committee changed to include two non-economists. This has not been confirmed by the Economics Prize Committee. The members of the 2007 Economics Prize Committee are still dominated by economists, as the secretary and four of the five members are professors of economics.[37]
Critics argue that the prestige of the Prize in Economic Sciences derives in part from its association with the Nobel Prizes. Among them isPeter Nobel, a great-grandnephew ofAlfred Nobel and a Swedish human rights lawyer.[40] Nobel accuses the awarding institution of misusing his family's name, and states that no member of the Nobel family has ever had the intention of establishing a prize in economics.[41] He explained that "Nobel despised people who cared more about profits than society's well-being", saying that "There is nothing to indicate that he would have wanted such a prize", and that the association with the Nobel prizes is "a PR coup by economists to improve their reputation".[40]
In his speech at the 1974 Nobel Prize banquet,Friedrich Hayek stated that had he been consulted on the establishment of a Nobel Prize in economics, he would have "decidedly advised against it",[36][44] primarily because "The Nobel Prize confers on an individual an authority which in economics no man ought to possess. This does not matter in thenatural sciences. Here the influence exercised by an individual is chiefly an influence on his fellow experts; and they will soon cut him down to size if he exceeds his competence. But the influence of the economist that mainly matters is an influence over laymen: politicians, journalists, civil servants and the public generally."[44] Nevertheless, Hayek accepted the award.
The 1994 prize to mathematicianJohn Forbes Nash caused controversy within the selection committee.[54][55] This resulted in a change to the rules governing the committee during 1994: The prize's scope was redefined as one of social sciences, and Prize Committee members were limited to serve for three years.[35]
The prize's official name is theSviriges Riskbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel[56][57][58] (Swedish:Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne). The prize has undergone many name changes due to controversy surrounding its status and nature:
Year(s)
English names
1969–1970
Prize in Economic Science dedicated to the memory of Alfred Nobel[59][60]
^"The Nobel Prize".The Nobel Foundation. Archived fromthe original on 5 April 2006. Retrieved7 November 2007.In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank established The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize
^abc"Nomination and selection of economic sciences laureates".NobelPrize.org. Stockholm: The Nobel Foundation. 4 July 2018.Archived from the original on 10 May 2020. Retrieved5 November 2021.Not a Nobel Prize[:] The prize in economic sciences is not a Nobel Prize. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) instituted 'The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel', and it has since been awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences according to the same principles as for the Nobel Prizes that have been awarded since 1901.
^Hird., John A. (2005).Power, Knowledge, and Politics. American governance and public policy. Georgetown University Press. p. 33.ISBN978-1-58901-048-2.OCLC231997210.the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel, commonly referred to as the 'Nobel Prize in Economics'
^"The Prize in Economics Sciences 2022".The Sveriges Riksbank in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Nobel Foundation. 10 October 2022.Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved12 September 2023.
^"Årsredovidning 2006"(PDF).Sveriges Riksbank. 29 March 2007. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 13 March 2009. Retrieved15 September 2013.I posten ekonomipris ingår prissumman om 10 miljoner kronor samt administrationskostnader för detta pris om 6,5 miljoner kronor. Dessutom har bidrag givits till det interaktiva Internetmuseum som Nobelstiftelsen byggt upp. Bidraget avser täckande av kostnaden för information om ekonomipriset. Bidraget ska enligt avtal utbetalas årligen med 1 miljon kronor till och med 2019.{{cite web}}:|archive-date= /|archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 13 March 2013 suggested (help)
^Nasar, Sylvia (13 October 2001)."The Sometimes Dismal Nobel Prize in Economics".The New York Times.Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved13 September 2011.[Ms. Robinson] did not win the prize because [the committee] feared that she would either refuse it or, worse, use the Nobel limelight to attack mainstream economics.
^Millmow, Alex (2 May 2002)."An IgNobel Scandal". Post-Autistic Economics Review.Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved18 October 2007.
^Offer, Avner; Söderberg, Gabriel (2016).The Nobel Factor: The Prize in Economics, Social Democracy, and the Market Turn (1st ed.). Princeton University Press. pp. 104–105.
^O'Shaughnessy, Hugh (11 December 2006)."General Augusto Pinochet".The Independent.Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved6 September 2017.
