Overview

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the prize for research that explains how technological innovation drives long-run economic growth.
• The 11 million Swedish kronor award is split with half to Joel Mokyr and the other half shared by Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt.
• Mokyr was cited for historical work identifying prerequisites for sustained progress, including scientific understanding and openness to new ideas.
• Aghion and Howitt were honored for a 1992 model of creative destruction that shows how new technologies displace older ones and create conflicts that can impede progress.
• The Academy cautioned that growth is not automatic, urged preservation of innovation-enabling mechanisms, listed the laureates’ affiliations at Northwestern, Collège de France/LSE/INSEAD and Brown, and noted the Nobel ceremony is set for December 10.