The Nobel Prize in Economics is not one of the ‘classic’ prizes as invented by founder Alfred Nobel (1833-1896).
The award is an initiative of the Swedish central bank and has been awarded since 1969. In that year, the Dutchman Jan Tinbergen shared the prize with his Norwegian colleague Ragnar Frisch.
Last year the prize went to research on the so-called auction theory of the American economists’ Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson. Their research was about how people trade in auction markets.
Milgrom and Wilson have come up with new auction formats, among other things. “The new auction formats are a good example of how fundamental research can provide inventions that benefit society,” said an explanation of the price at the time.
For the winner(s), there is 10 million Swedish krona ready, converted slightly less than 1 million euros.