Guwahati: Robert E. Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University have been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their work on the “microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday, October 12.
The Academy said the economists had developed macroeconomic models that improved the ability of policymakers to implement effective stabilisation measures. Their research provides a basis for using timely fiscal and monetary policy interventions to reduce economic fluctuations.
The award, formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, carries a prize amount of 12 million Swedish kronor (about 1.2 million dollars). It is the final Nobel award to be announced this year.
First awarded in 1969, the economics prize was established by Sweden’s central bank and was not among the five original Nobel Prizes created under Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will. The central bank established the award through a donation in 1968.
The announcement came three days after South African jurist Navaneetham “Navi” Pillay was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, bringing this year’s Nobel season to a close.
In 2025, the economics prize was awarded to American-Israeli economist Joel Mokyr, French economist Philippe Aghion and Canadian economist Peter Howitt for their research into how technological progress drives economic growth.
Unlike the original Nobel Prizes, which were established under the will of Swedish scientist and industrialist Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896, the economics award was created separately.