Waiting for the new Nobel laureate(s) in economic sciences

Abstract

Since the start in 1901, with the exception of the war years, the Nobel Prizes have always been awarded on the 10th of December, to mark the day of Alfred Nobel's demise. The exception is the prize for achievements in economic sciences which only started to be awarded in 1969. Since 1995 the Prize in Economic Sciences has been defined as the Prize in Social Sciences, so that the other recognized scientists in these fields, such as political sciences, psychology and sociology, could be awarded. Moreover, it was established that the Prize can be divided among no more than three winners. The Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to the total of 76 scientists, most of which, i.e. 52 of them, were the citizens of the USA. The largest number of laureates, i.e. twelve, came from the University of Chicago, six of them from Princeton, and five from Berkley. It was only once, in 2009, that the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to a woman - Elinor Ostrom (1933-2012) from the USA, together with Oliver Williamson. The average age of the Nobel Prize winners is about 60 years. The oldest laureate to have ever won the prize was Leonid Hurwicz, who received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2007 at the age of 90.