Indian-American Abhijit Banerjee has won the 2019 Noble Prize in Economics along with his wife Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. With this win, Abhijit has become only the Second Indian Origin Person to win a Noble Prize for Economics after Amartya Sen. According to the formal citation provided on the Noble Prize website, Abhijit and his team have been awarded the Noble Prize for Economics for “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”
Why Noble Prize in Economics?
As per the official citation provided on the official website of Noble Prize i.e. nobelprize.org; Abhijit Banerjee and his team have been bestowed the honour of wining Noble Prize for Economics for their experimental approach to poverty alleviation. The citation further reads that the 2019 Laureates in Economic Sciences “have played a very decisive role in reshaping research in developmental economics. Banerjee and his team’s research has potential to improve the lives of the most impoverished people on the platnet.
Unique Approach to Solve Poverty
The official press release announcing Banerjee’s win said that the trio has developed a unique experimental approach to answering difficult and often non-quantifiable questions about poverty and how it can be eliminated. Their approach breaks down the global poverty into smaller issues which can be solved easily and thereby have impact at grassroots levels.
The press-release further said that the research findings of 2019 Noble Laureates have helped streamline research and helped find tangible results to fight poverty in practice. Many of their research approaches have helped solve healthcare issues in Kenya and improve remedial tutoring in schools in India.
Led to Evolution of Development Economics
The media release claims that the biggest achievement of Abhijit Banerjee and his colleague’s research is that it has helped to develop a new domain development economics that aims to improve the quality of life of impoverished people. Furthermore, their experimental approach has transformed development economics into a flourishing research domain through which researchers are able to understand and resolve poverty and allied issues.
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About 2019 Noble Laureates in Economic Sciences
Abhijeet Banerjee – Academic Profile
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee is son of Prof Nirmala and Dipak Banerjee, both of whom are Kolkata-based economists. Abhijit completed this schooling from South Point School in Kolkata & completed his graduation from Presidency College, Kolkata. He also holds a PhD from Harvard University. He is a Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. He is currently 58 years old.
Esther Duflo
Born in Paris, Esther Duflo is the the second woman and the youngest person to be awarded the prize in Economics. Ms Duflo currently holds a PhD from MIT and is also a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The 47 year old Professor is married to her peer Noble Laureate Abhijeet Banerjee.
Michael Kremer
Mr Kremer, is Gates Professor of Developing Societies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Kremer is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is currently 54 years old.
About Noble Prize for Economics
Noble Prize for Economics is formally known as the ‘Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences In Memory Of Alfred Nobel’. Unlike the other Noble Prizes which were created by Alfred Noble, it was created at a later date and is considered to be part of the ‘Nobel stable of award’. Noble Prize for Economics was setup by Riksbanken, the Swedish central bank in 1968 and so far 81 people have been awarded Noble Prize for Economics.
The winner or Noble Prize for Economics wins 9 million-kronor ($918,000) cash award, a gold medal and a diploma. The trio of Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer will be awarded Noble Prize for Economics at Stockholm on 10th December 2019 – the death anniversary of Prize Founder Alfred Nobel.
Also Read: Nobel Prizes in Literature for 2018 and 2019
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