2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Awarded for Innovation and Economic Growth Research

The 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt, and Joel Mokyr for their impactful research on the role of innovations in economic development. The announcement was made by Hans Ellegren, permanent secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, highlighting the prize's focus on the economic dynamics of creation and destruction that drive growth and transformation.

Joel Mokyr, based at Northwestern University and originally from the Netherlands, has explored why economic development persists by analyzing how understanding inventions enables further advancements. Philippe Aghion from INSEAD and Peter Howitt from Brown University have investigated how new ideas replacing older ones affect businesses and societies. Their research emphasizes that while innovative ideas foster societal progress and job creation, resistance from those negatively impacted can hinder development.

The prize, awarded by Sveriges Riksbank in memory of Alfred Nobel, also has a Swedish connection through Aghion, who was recently appointed honorary doctor at Stockholm University and served as a guest professor at the Institute for International Economic Studies (IIES) until 2015. Researchers such as Tessa Bold, Kieran Larkin, Per Krusell, and John Hassler from IIES are available to provide expert commentary on the award and its significance.

Together, their pioneering work sheds light on the transformative power of innovation in improving living standards over more than 200 years, alongside the complex social and economic challenges that accompany change.