The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

For Angus Deaton – awarded the Prize in Economic Sciences 2015 – fly fishing has helped him think in new and creative ways

About the prize

In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) established the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize. The prize is based on a donation received by the Nobel Foundation in 1968 from Sveriges Riksbank on the occasion of the bank’s 300th anniversary. The first prize in economic sciences was awarded to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen in 1969.

The prize in economic sciences is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, according to the same principles as for the Nobel Prizes that have been awarded since 1901.

See all economic sciences laureates or learn about the nomination process.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023

She uncovered key drivers of gender differences in the labour market

Over the past century, the proportion of women in paid work has tripled in many high-income countries. This is one of the biggest societal and economic changes in the labour market in modern times, but significant gender differences remain. It was first in the 1980s that a researcher adopted a comprehensive approach to explaining the source of these differences. Claudia Goldin’s research has given us new and often surprising insights into women’s historical and contemporary roles in the labour market.

A detective investigating a file cabinet, accompanied by a golden retriever. — © Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The 2023 economic sciences laureate

Claudia Goldin

This year’s economic sciences laureate, Claudia Goldin, provided the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries. By trawling through the archives and compiling and correcting historical data, Goldin has been able to present new and often surprising facts. The fact that women’s choices have often been, and remain, limited by marriage and responsibility for the home and family is at the heart of her analyses and explanatory models.

Her insights reach far outside the borders of the US and similar patterns have been observed in many other countries. Her research brings us a better understanding of the labour markets of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

One-minute crash course

Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023

Women in the labour market

Did you know that on average women still earn less than men? The research awarded the 2023 economic sciences prize gives us an idea why.

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The Nobel Prize medal.

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Nobel Prizes and laureates

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Laureate in economic sciences Bengt Holmström likes the Chinese board game GO, which begins with simple rules but gets difficult as one progresses.

Photo: Nobel Prize Museum

Articles in economic sciences

Featured laureates

John F. Nash Jr.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1994 for their pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games.

Richard H. Thaler

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2017 for his contributions to behavioural economics.

Daniel Kahneman

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2002 for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty.

Amartya Sen

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1998 for his contributions to welfare economics.

Friedrich August von Hayek

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1974 for their pioneering work in the theory of money and economic fluctuations and for their penetrating analysis of the interdependence of economic, social and institutional phenomena.

Elinor Ostrom

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009 for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.

Discover more

How the pull of individuals can move a whole system

Angus Deaton employed theory, data collection and statistics together to see how consumption, poverty, and welfare are related. His conclusion? We need to understand individual consumption choices before we can design economic policy that promotes welfare and reduces poverty.

Angus Deaton visiting the Vasa Museum during the Nobel week in Stockholm. — Angus Deaton visiting the Vasa Museum in Stockholm during Nobel Week.

© Nobel Media. Photo: Pi Frisk

On mathematics, the prize and ‘A Beautiful Mind’

Watch this interview with Dr. John Nash, who received the Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994. He talks about the impact the prize has had on his life, his talent for mathematics as a child and about the movie about his life, ‘A Beautiful Mind’.

Contracts: a glue for modern economies

Read how ‘innumerable contracts’ hold modern economies together. The recipients of the 2016 Prize in Economic Sciences created theoretical tools for understanding real-life contracts and institutions, as well as potential pitfalls in contract design.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

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