Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Mokyr, Aghion and Howitt for work on innovation and growth

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics for their pioneering research on innovation, technological change and long-term economic growth.

The 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for their influential work linking innovation to sustained economic development, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday.

The trio were recognised for “deepening our understanding of how technological progress drives productivity, shapes markets, and transforms societies over time,” the Academy said in a statement.

Mokyr, a professor at Northwestern University, is widely regarded for his historical analysis of the Industrial Revolution and how ideas and institutions influenced the trajectory of economic progress. His work has shed light on the interplay between culture, science, and innovation in shaping modern economies.

Aghion, currently at the Collège de France and the London School of Economics, and Howitt, an emeritus professor at Brown University, are best known for developing the theory of “creative destruction” in their work on endogenous growth. Their joint research has helped explain how firms’ incentives to innovate affect competition, policy, and inequality.

The Academy said their findings have had “profound influence” on modern economic policy, from education and R&D investment to antitrust regulation and climate innovation strategies.

Aghion and Howitt’s seminal model, introduced in the early 1990s, built on the Schumpeterian tradition by formalising the dynamic relationship between innovation, firm entry and exit, and macroeconomic performance.

This year’s award highlights the importance of long-run thinking in policymaking, particularly as economies face challenges such as slowing productivity, demographic shifts, and the green transition.

The Economics prize is the last of the six Nobel Prizes to be awarded this year.

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