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Nobel Prize in Economics split into one and two winners respectively

Mokyr was awarded half the prize, while Aghion and Howitt shared the rest (Photo: Royal Swedish Academy)

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to three researchers for their work on innovation-driven growth: Joel Mokyr (economic historian, Dutch/Israeli/US citizen, working in the US), Philippe Aghion (French, working in France and London), and Peter Howitt (Canadian, working in the US), the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced in Stockholm on Monday afternoon, local time, marking the end of this year's Nobel Prize season.

Mokyr, a Professor at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, US, and the Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Tel Aviv University, Israel, was awarded half the prize for identifying the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress. He used historical sources to show why economic growth became the norm in recent centuries, emphasizing the importance of scientific knowledge to explain how innovations work, plus society's openness to change and new ideas.

Aghion (based at the College de France in Paris) and Howitt (a professor at Brown University in the United States) jointly received the other half for their theory of sustained growth through “creative destruction.” Their work, including a 1992 mathematical model explaining the process whereby new, better products cause older companies to suffer losses. They showed that this process must be managed to prevent established companies from blocking innovations to protect their interests.

“The laureates' work shows that economic growth cannot be taken for granted. We must support the mechanisms underlying creative destruction so that we do not fall back into stagnation,” said John Hassler, chairman of the committee awarding the Nobel Prize in Economics.

The prize is endowed with 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately €1 million) and, unlike the original Nobel Prizes, is sponsored by the Swedish Central Bank. The award ceremony will take place on Dec. 10.

Last week, the winners in the categories of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, and peace were announced.