Nobel Prize for Economic Science

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

Find all the winners of the Nobel Prize for Economic Science, from 1969 to the present. For years not listed, no award was made.

1969

Ragnar Frisch (Norway) and Jan Tinbergen (Netherlands), for work in econometrics (application of mathematics and statistical methods to economic theories and problems)

1970

Paul A. Samuelson (U.S.), for efforts to raise the level of scientific analysis in economic theory

1971

Simon Kuznets (U.S.), for developing concept of using a country's gross national product to determine its economic growth

1972

Kenneth J. Arrow (U.S.) and Sir John R. Hicks (U.K.), for theories that help to assess business risk and government economic and welfare policies

1973

Wassily Leontief (U.S.), for devising the input-output technique to determine how different sectors of an economy interact

1974

Gunnar Myrdal (Sweden) and Friedrich A. von Hayek (U.K.), for pioneering analysis of the interdependence of economic, social, and institutional phenomena

1975

Leonid V. Kantorovich (U.S.S.R.) and Tjalling C. Koopmans (U.S.), for work on the theory of optimum allocation of resources

1976

Milton Friedman (U.S.), for work in consumption analysis and monetary history and theory, and for demonstration of complexity of stabilization policy

1977

Bertil Ohlin (Sweden) and James E. Meade (U.K.), for contributions to theory of international trade and international capital movements

1978

Herbert A. Simon (U.S.), for research into the decision-making process within economic organizations

1979

Sir Arthur Lewis (U.K.) and Theodore Schultz (U.S.), for work on economic problems of developing nations

1980

Lawrence R. Klein (U.S.), for developing models for forecasting economic trends and shaping policies to deal with them

1981

James Tobin (U.S.), for analyses of financial markets and their influence on spending and saving by families and businesses

1982

George J. Stigler (U.S.), for work on government regulation in the economy and the functioning of industry

1983

Gerard Debreu (U.S.), in recognition of his work on the basic economic problem of how prices operate to balance what producers supply with what buyers want

1984

Sir Richard Stone (U.K.), for his work to develop the systems widely used to measure the performance of national economics

1985

Franco Modigliani (U.S.), for his pioneering work in analyzing the behavior of household savers and the functioning of financial markets

1986

James M. Buchanan (U.S.), for his development of new methods for analyzing economic and political decision-making

1987

Robert M. Solow (U.S.), for seminal contributions to the theory of economic growth

1988

Maurice Allais (France), for his pioneering development of theories to better understand market behavior and the efficient use of resources

1989

Trygve Haavelmo (Norway), for his pioneering work in methods for testing economic theories

1990

Harry M. Markowitz, William F. Sharpe, and Merton H. Miller (all U.S.), whose work provided new tools for weighing the risks and rewards of different investments and for valuing corporate stocks and bonds

1991

Ronald Coase (U.S.), for his pioneering work in how property rights and the cost of doing business affect the economy

1992

Gary S. Becker (U.S.), for “having extended the domain of economic theory to aspects of human behavior which had previously been dealt with—if at all—by other social science disciplines”

1993

Robert W. Fogel and Douglass C. North (both U.S.), for their work in economic history

1994

John F. Nash, John C. Harsanyi (both U.S.), and Reinhard Selten (Germany), for their pioneering work in game theory

1995

Robert E. Lucas, Jr. (U.S.), for having had the greatest influence on macroeconomic research since 1970

1996

James A. Mirrlees (U.K.) and William Vickrey (U.S.), for “their fundamental contributions to the economic theory of incentives”

1997

Robert C. Merton and Myron S. Scholes (both U.S.), for developing a formula that determines the value of stock options and other derivatives

1998

Amartya Sen (India), for his contributions to welfare economics

1999

Robert A. Mundel (U.S.), for his work on monetary dynamics and optimum currency areas

2000

James J. Heckman and Daniel L. McFadden (both U.S.), for developing methods used in statistical analysis of individual and household behavior

2001

George A. Akerlof, A. Michael Spence, and Joseph E. Stiglitz (all U.S.), for market analyses with asymmetric information.

2002

Daniel Kahneman (U.S.) for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science and Vernon L. Smith (U.S.) for having established laboratory experiments as a tool in empirical economic analysis.

2003

Robert F. Engle (U.S.) and Clive W. J. Granger (UK), for developing statistical tools to improve analysis of stock prices and other data.

2004

Finn E. Kydland (Norway) and Edward C. Prescott (U.S.) “for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles.”

2005

Robert J. Aumann and Thomas C. Schelling (both U.S.)

2006

Edmund S. Phelps (U.S.) for “his analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy”

2007

Leonid Hurwicz (U.S.), Eric S. Maskin (U.S.), and Roger B. Myerson (U.S.) "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory"

2008

Paul Krugman (U.S.) for "his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity"

2009

Elinor Ostrom (U.S.) for "her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons" and Oliver E. Williamson (U.S.) for "his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm"

2010

Peter Diamond (U.S.), Dale T. Mortensen (U.S.), and Christopher A. Pissarides (UK) for "their analysis of markets with search frictions"

2011

Thomas J. Sargent (U.S.) and Christopher A. Sims for "their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy"

2012

Jointly to Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley (both U.S.) for "the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design"

2013

Jointly to Eugene F. Fama, Lars Peter Hansen, and Robert J. Shiller (all U.S.) for "for their empirical analysis of asset prices"

2014

To Jean Tirole (France)"for his analysis of market power and regulation"

2015

To Angus Deaton (U.S./U.K.) for "for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare"

2016

Jointly to Oliver Harth (U.K./U.S.)and Bengt Holmstr&uumlaut;m (Finland/U.S.) for "for their contributions to contract theory"