Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have won the 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for “explaining innovation-driven economic growth,” including the dynamics of creative destruction, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Monday (Oct 13).
Mokyr, an economic historian at Northwestern University, was awarded half the 11 million–kronor purse for work tracing how successive waves of innovation take root.
Aghion, of the Collège de France and the London School of Economics, and Howitt, of Brown University, share the other half for formal models showing how new technologies displace old ones and fuel long-run growth.
The laureates’ research deepened understanding of the conditions under which breakthroughs proliferate—an idea associated with Joseph Schumpeter, who popularised “creative destruction” in his 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. John Hassler, chair of the prize committee, said their work underscores that growth cannot be taken for granted and depends on institutions that sustain innovation.
The three represent complementary approaches: Mokyr marshalled historical evidence to explain why innovation begets more innovation, while Aghion and Howitt built mathematical frameworks—most notably a seminal 1992 paper—showing how competition and invention drive productivity by replacing outdated firms and technologies.
Speaking to reporters, Aghion said he was “shocked” by the honour and cautioned that rising protectionism threatens growth and innovation; he added he plans to invest his winnings in research.
The prize money is set at 11 million Swedish kronor this year. Although the economics award—established by Sweden’s central bank in 1968—is not among Alfred Nobel’s original prizes, it is presented alongside them on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.
Since its inception, the economics prize has been awarded 56 times to 96 laureates, only three of whom are women. Last year’s award went to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for research on how institutions shape prosperity.
Source: CNN
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