2014 Nobel Prize in economics: Who’s in the frame to win?
Later today the Nobel Prize in economics will be announced. Winners of the prestigious award are notoriously hard to predict but a slew of gifted economists have been mentioned as strong contenders.
Last year, the prize in economic sciences was awarded to Eugene Fama, Lars Hansen and Robert Shiller for their work in predictions. Or as the committee puts it "for their empirical analysis of asset prices".
Update: The winner has been announced
Here are some names we might expect see land the grand prize of 8m Swedish krona (£775,000):
Israel Kirzner and William Baumol
Thomson Reuters sounded out the two economists as possible winners for their advancement of the study of entrepreneurism. The 84 year-old Israel Kirzner is certainly a dark horse. A follower of the Austrian school of economics, Kirzner received his PhD from New York University in 1957, where he studied under the classical liberal icon Ludwig von Mises. Kirzner's research on entrepreneurship has criticised neoclassical perfect competition models and explains how coordination in the market emerges from disco-ordiantion.
Baumol is recognised for a host of achievements in the discipline. In his 1968 paper "Entrepreneurship in Economic Theory" he said the firm without the entrepreneur is Hamlet without the prince. Furthermore, noted economist Tyler Cowen has tipped Baumol for the prize.
Philippe M. Aghion and Peter W. Howitt
Reuters placed Aghion and Brown in the running for their contributions to Schumpeterian growth theory. Aghion, who supported the election of French President Francois Hollande in 2012, has supported the liberalisation of services in the EU. Canadian economist Pete W. Howitt served as president of the Canadian Economics Association from 1993-1994 and editor of the Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking from 1997-2000.
Robert Barro
Harvard economist Robert Barro was been ranked the third most influential economist in the world as of June 2013. Barro is also number two for research citations, as of September 2014. He is one of the founders of the new classical economics and in 2011 delivered the Institute of Economic Affairs' annual Hayek lecture on the economic crisis facing governments of the developed world.
Angus Deaton and Sir Anthony Atkinson
British economists Deaton and Atkinson may be in with a chance for their work on inequality. Deaton is well-known for his paper "Income, Health and Well-Being around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll". Last year, he published "The Great Escape: Health, wealth and the origins of inequality.
Atkinson is a senior research fellow of Nuffield College and last year published "Public Economics in an Age of Austerity".
Jean Tirole
French economist Tiro has worked on finance and deregulation. He is the scientific director of industrial economics at Toulouse University. His book, Theory of Corporate Finance, published in 2005, was given an award for excellence by the Association of American Publishers.
Mark Granovetter
American sociologist Mark Granovetter was included in Reuters' list of possible winners for his research in economic sociology. He is the Joan Butler Ford Professor and Chair of Sociology, and Joan Butler Ford Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University Stanford.