Stockholm: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday that scholars Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their contributions to explaining innovation-driven economic growth.
According to Kuwait News Agency, half of the prize was awarded to American economist Joel Mokyr for his work on identifying the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress. The other half was shared between French economist Philippe Aghion and Canadian economist Peter Howitt for their development of the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction, as stated by the Academy.
The Academy highlighted that the laureates demonstrated how new technology can drive sustained economic growth by analyzing the relationship between innovation, scientific progress, and market dynamics. Their research has deepened the understanding of economic growth mechanisms by linking innovation to industrial and scientific development, emphasizing the role of institutional and educational environments in fostering creativity and growth.
Joel Mokyr, born in 1946 in Leiden, the Netherlands, earned his PhD in 1974 from Yale University and is currently a professor at Northwestern University. Philippe Aghion, born in Paris in 1956, received his PhD in 1987 from Harvard University, and serves as a professor at Coll¨ge de France, INSEAD in Paris, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Peter Howitt, born in 1946 in Canada, obtained his PhD in 1973 from Northwestern University and is currently a professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.