The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has honoured Turkish-American economist, Daron Acemoglu; British American economist, Simon Johnson; and British economist and political scientist, James A. Robinson with the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024 on 14th October 2024.
- They were awarded “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”.
- Prize amount: 11 million Swedish kronor, to be shared equally between the laureates.
Medal of Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences:
i.The Medal of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences was designed by Swedish artist Gunvor Svensson-Lundqvist.
ii.The obverse features the portrait of Alfred Nobel in the upper half and the bank’s crossed horns of plenty in the lower half.
iii.The reverse of the medal features a North Star emblem of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, with the words “Kungliga Vetenskaps Akademien” (The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) around the edge.
Winners of 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences:
| Nobel Laureate | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| Daron Acemoglu | For studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity |
| Simon Johnson | |
| James A. Robinson |
About Daron Acemoglu:
Daron Acemoglu, born in 1967 in Istanbul, Türkiye, is a Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts, the United States of America (USA).
About Simon Johnson:
Simon Johnson, born in 1963 in Sheffield, the United Kingdom (UK), is a Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts, the USA.
About James A. Robinson:
James A. Robinson, born in 1960 in the UK, is a Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, the USA.
- He currently holds appointments in the Harris School of Public Policy and the Political Science Department at the University of Chicago.
About Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences:
i.In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It is based on a donation received by the Nobel Foundation in 1968 from Sveriges Riksbank on the occasion of the bank’s 300th anniversary.
ii.The first prize in economic sciences was awarded to Ragnar Frisch of Norway and Jan Tinbergen of the Netherlands in 1969.
Facts on Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences:
i.Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded 56 times to 96 laureates between 1969 and 2024. The 96 individual laureates include 3 women.
ii.26 prizes in economic sciences have been given to one laureate while 20 prizes were shared between 2 laureates and 10 prizes were shared between 3 laureates.
Points to Note:
i.Youngest Laureate– Esther Duflo Nobel Prize received the prize in 2019 at the age of 46 “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.
ii.Oldest Laureate– Leonid Hurwicz received the prize in 2007 at the age of 90 “for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory”.
iii.First Woman- Elinor Ostrom from the USA, won the prize in 2009 “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons”. She became the first woman to win the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences.
iv.2023 Laureate- The 2023 prize was awarded to Claudia Goldin of the USA “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes”
Indian Laureate:
Amartya Sen, the Indian economist and philosopher hailing from Santiniketan, West Bengal, won The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1998 “for his contributions to welfare economics”. He was affiliated with Trinity College, Cambridge, the UK at the time of the award.
About the Nobel Prize:
i.The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden, recognising discoveries and achievements that benefit humanity.
ii.The award is based on the fortune of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor and entrepreneur.
iii.Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace.
- Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) established the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1968.
Prize Money: Winners of the Nobel Prize will receive a medal, a personal diploma, and a cash award.
- The cash award of Nobel Prize 2024 is set at Swedish kronor (SEK) 11 million per full Nobel Prize.
