Richard Thaler Awarded Nobel for Research on Behavioral Economics - 2017

Richard Thaler is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Behavioral Science at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, as well as a research associate in the NBER's Asset Pricing Program. In 1992, he and Robert Shiller launched the NBER Working Group on Behavioral Economics, which has served as an important forum for researchers working in this field. He served as co-director of that group until 2016.

Thaler, an NBER research associate for more than 25 years, was awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics.

The Royal Swedish Academy' of Sciences' announcement of the prize explains that "Thaler has incorporated psychologically realistic assumptions into analyses of economic decision-making. By exploring the consequences of limited rationality, social preferences, and lack of self-control, he has shown how these human traits systematically affect individual decisions as well as market outcomes."

"His empirical findings and theoretical insights have been instrumental in creating the new and rapidly expanding field of behavioral economics, which has had a profound impact on many areas of economic research and policy."

The Academy cited many settings in which behavioral insights have enriched economic analysis and policy design, including the study of household saving, the formation of prices in financial markets, the role of fairness in setting wages and prices, and the use of "nudges" to influence consumer behavior. Read the Academy's description of the ways in which Thaler's work has been applied.

A longer summary of the scientific contributions that underlie this award.