Joel Mokyr wins Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences

Joel Mokyr, the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences and professor of economics and history in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, today (Oct. 13) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for 2025 to three economists for showing how technological progress has led to sustained economic growth. Mokyr receives half of the prize for his development of a theory for sustained economic growth. Mokyr identified three important requisites for growth: useful knowledge, mechanical competence and institutions conducive to technological progress. 

The other half of the prize is shared by Philippe Aghion of the Collège de France and the London School of Economics and Peter Howitt of Brown University for their creation of a mathematical model for a theory of sustained growth through creative destruction. Howitt earned his doctorate in economics from Northwestern in 1973.

Mokyr is an expert on the economic history of Europe, specializing in the period 1750-1914. He is concerned with understanding the economic and intellectual roots of technological progress and the growth of useful knowledge in European societies. His research also focuses on the impact that industrialization and economic progress have had on economic welfare.

“This is a tremendous honor for Professor Mokyr and for Northwestern University,” said Northwestern President Henry S. Bienen. “Joel has been an invaluable member of one of the leading economics departments in the world, as well as to our influential history department, and he has had a profound impact on our understanding of both economics and history by incorporating culture into the analysis of economic growth. He is an extraordinary scholar, teacher and mentor. Our University community is proud of his many accomplishments.”

“Joel Mokyr serves as a brilliant example of the power of interdisciplinary work to better understand our past, present and future,” Provost Kathleen Hagerty said. “We congratulate Professor Mokyr and his colleagues, Professor Philippe Aghion and Professor Peter Howitt, on their remarkable achievements.”

“As his colleagues in the departments of Economics and History can attest, Joel is not only a creative and influential scholar but also a great teacher and mentor. His writings have transformed the study of economic history, while his teaching has enriched the lives of generations of Northwestern students,” said Adrian Randolph, dean of the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern.

“Joel teaches us that knowledge and the institutions that cultivate it are the fundamental drivers of economic growth and prosperity,” said Jeff Ely, Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics. “Northwestern’s Department of Economics is proud to be the institution where Joel Mokyr has spent over 50 years advancing the very Enlightenment ideals he studies.”

“Joel is a towering figure in economic history, whose extraordinary scholarship has transformed our understanding of the modern age,” said Kevin Boyle, William S. Mason Professor of American History and Chair of the Department of History. “He’s also a brilliant teacher, mentor, and colleague. The history department is so honored to have him as a defining member of our faculty.”

“Joel has been a key member of the Program in Science in Human Culture for many years,” said Lydia Barnett, director of the Science in Human Culture Program. “Through his research and teaching, he has shown the tremendous impact that science and technology have had on the modern world and demonstrated their value in supporting social flourishing and well-being. Generations of Northwestern students have flocked to his classes and benefitted from his expertise, and I’m delighted to see his contributions to our collective understanding of science, technology, economy, and society now being recognized by the Nobel Prize Committee.”

Mokyr’s book, “A Culture of Growth: Origins of the Modern Economy,” (Princeton University Press, 2016), questions the factors that made the Industrial Revolution possible and how culture — the beliefs, values, preferences in society that are capable of changing behavior — was a deciding factor in societal transformations.

His book “The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress” offers a sweeping analysis of how Western economies can maintain, and developing nations can unlock, their creative potential; he also is the author of “The Gifts of Athena” (Princeton University Press, 2002) and “The Enlightened Economy” (Yale University Press, 2009).

His books focus on changes in technology and economic growth, and his optimistic perspectives have been widely cited by major media outlets, earning him Clarivate’s Citation Laureate™ distinction in 2021.

His most recent book, “Two Paths to Prosperity: Culture and Institutions in China and Europe, 1000-2000,” published by Princeton University Press, is set to be published in November 2025. It focuses on the long-run cultural changes in the two civilizations that determined the very different economic trajectories they followed over the ages.

At a recent Northwestern symposium, Mokyr explained why he is convinced the future of economic growth is bright, in contrast to opinions of some of his colleagues.

“The last 150 years have been absolutely miraculous in the history of the human race. The living standards that would have been unimaginable in the 1870s have been attained not just by the very wealthy and top layers of society, but basically, by regular citizens,” he said. “The average life expectancy in the world today is 73 for women and 68 for men. In the 1870s it was in the upper 30s. We have doubled it. That gives you an indication of what we have achieved.” 

In 2018, Mokyr was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, which annually recognizes the lifetime research contributions of four economists.

Also, in 2018, Mokyr was awarded the 2018 Elinor Ostrom Prize for the paper “Cognitive rules, institutions and economic growth: Douglass North and beyond,” co-written with Avner Greif, professor of economics at Stanford University, and published in the Journal of Institutional Economics. His “Culture of Growth” research paper was awarded the Alan Sharlin Prize by the Social Science History Association.

He was the 2006 winner of the biennial Heineken Award for History offered by the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the prestigious International Balzan Prize for his groundbreaking work on the economic history of Europe and roots of technological change in 2015. He is one of three Americans to be awarded the prestigious prize. Each prize winner was awarded approximately 750,000 Swiss Francs (approximately $770,000).

Mokyr is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Econometric Society as well as the British Academy, the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences. He has been the president of the Economic History Association and a co-editor of the Journal of Economic History.

Mokyr is on several editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals and editor-in-chief of the Princeton University Press series, “Economic History of the Western World.”

Mokyr earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1968; a master’s degree in economics from Yale University in 1972; and a Ph.D. in economics from Yale in 1974.

In 2016, the late Sir Fraser Stoddart, the Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In 2010, the late Dale T. Mortensen, the Ida C. Cook Professor of Economics at Northwestern, won the Nobel Prize in Economics; and in 1998, the late John A. Pople, who was Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.