Robert E. Hall, Michael Woodford win Nobel economics prize

Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, the final award to be announced in this year’s Nobel Prize series.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award in Stockholm on Monday.

Last year, the economics prize went to three researchers whose work explored how innovation, new products and inventions drive economic growth and improve human welfare, while potentially leaving older businesses behind.

Formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, the award was established by Sweden’s central bank in 1968 to honour Alfred Nobel, the 19th-century Swedish businessman and chemist who invented dynamite and founded the five original Nobel Prizes.

Although commonly grouped with the Nobel Prizes, the economics award was not part of Nobel’s original bequest. However, it is presented alongside the other Nobel awards each year on December 10, marking the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896.

The other prizes, covering medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace, were announced last week.

The prize carries a monetary award of 12 million Swedish kronor, equivalent to around $1.2 million, which may be shared by an individual, a group of laureates or an organisation.