STOCKHOLM — The 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt for their foundational work in explaining how innovation drives long-term economic expansion. Mokyr, affiliated with Northwestern University, along with Aghion from the Collège de France and the London School of Economics, and Howitt from Brown University, were recognized for uncovering the mechanisms that sustain growth through technological advancement and creative disruption.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences highlighted Mokyr’s contribution in demonstrating that sustained innovation relies not just on practical know-how, but on a deeper scientific understanding of why certain technologies succeed. His research emphasized the importance of a cultural and intellectual environment that encourages inquiry and the dissemination of knowledge.
Aghion and Howitt, in a seminal 1992 paper, developed a formal model illustrating the concept of creative destruction—the process by which new products and technologies displace older ones, leading to dynamic market evolution. Their framework shows how competition and innovation incentives are central to avoiding economic stagnation.
“Their collective insights reveal that growth is not automatic,” said Jakob Hassler, chair of the prize committee. “Societies must actively support institutions that foster innovation and tolerate the disruptive effects of progress.”
Last year’s prize honored Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson for their analysis of institutional differences in national prosperity. The economics award, officially named the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968 and has been conferred 56 times, recognizing 96 individuals. Only three female economists have received the honor to date.
Though not one of the original Nobel Prizes, the economics award is presented annually alongside the others on December 10, commemorating Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.
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Nobel economics prize goes to 3 researchers for explaining innovation-driven economic growth
STOCKHOLM — Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt won the Nobel memorial prize in economics Monday for “having explained innovation-driven economic growth.” n nMokyr is from Northwestern University, Aghion from the College de France and the London School of Economics, and Howitt from Brown University. n nThe Nobel committee said Mokyr “demonstrated that if innovations are to succeed one another in a self-generating process, we not only need to know that something works, but we also need to have scientific explanations for why.” n nAghion and Howitt also studied the mechanisms behind sustained growth, including in a 1992 article in which they constructed a mathematical model for what is called creative destruction: When a new and better product enters the market, the companies selling the older products lose out. n n“The laureates’ work shows that economic growth cannot be taken for granted. We must uphold the mechanisms that underly creative destruction, so that we do not fall back into stagnation,” said Hassler, Chair of the Committee for the prize in economic sciences. n nLast year’s award went to three economists — Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson — who studied why some countries are rich and others poor and have documented that freer, open societies are more likely to prosper. n nThe economics prize is formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The central bank established it in 1968 as a memorial to Nobel, the 19th-century Swedish businessman and chemist who invented dynamite and established the five Nobel Prizes. n nSince then, it has been awarded 56 times to a total of 96 laureates. Only three of the winners have been women. n nNobel purists stress that the economics prize is technically not a Nobel Prize, but it is always presented together with the others on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896.