IZA Prize in Labor Economics

IZA Prize 2008 goes to Richard Layard and Stephen Nickell

The IZA Prize Committee has selected Richard Layard and Stephen J. Nickell to receive this year's IZA Prize in Labor Economics. The award honors their path-breaking work on the relationship between labor market institutions and unemployment. Their research provided a theoretical and empirical framework for the analysis of equilibrium unemployment and the impact of labor market institutions on economic performance. According to the award statement, the contributions of Layard and Nickell have illuminated the policy discourse in Europe and increased academics' understanding of the nature and causes of involuntary joblessness. Lord Richard Layard is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics (LSE) and a Labour life peer in the House of Lords. Stephen Nickell is Warden of Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and was previously a Professor of Economics at LSE and a member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee. The IZA Prize Ceremony will take place at the Petersberg Hill near Bonn on December 1, 2008, as part of IZA's 10th anniversary celebrations.

More information: IZA Press Statement | Award Statement

R. Layard | S. Nickell

About the IZA Prize

A sound understanding of problems in labor economics has proven ever more important in light of the adjustment processes that are currently taking place in the international labor markets. In order to account for this trend, the Institute for the Study of Labor - with generous support from the Deutsche Post Foundation - has created the "IZA Prize in Labor Economics". This annual prize is awarded for outstanding academic achievement in the field of labor economics. It is meant to stimulate research that tries to find answers to the important labor market policy questions of our time. In November 2002 the IZA Prize was awarded for the first time during a festive award ceremony in Berlin [view all past prize-winners].

More than 750 renowned labor economists are affiliated with IZA through its worldwide network of Research Fellows. These influential economists are entitled to nominate candidates for the prize. The decision will be made by the IZA Prize Committee, which includes distinguished international labor economists as well as IZA representatives.

The IZA Prize in Labor Economics underscores the central importance of labor market research in shaping the "Future of Labor."

For further information, please contact: prize@iza.org

First book in the IZA Prize Series honors Jacob Mincer

The first book in the IZA Prize Series published by Oxford University Press analyzes the work of one of the most important economists of the 20th century: Jacob Mincer, the inaugural recipient of the IZA Prize in Labor Economics. Since 2002 IZA has awarded this prize for outstanding contributions to policy-relevant labor market research and methodological progress in this sub-discipline of economic science. All prize-winners contribute a volume to the IZA Prize Series, which has been established to provide an overview of the laureates’ most significant findings.

This first volume of the IZA Prize Book Series is unique in many respects. It is the first comprehensive account of the lifetime achievement of the great pioneer in labor economics, Jacob Mincer, who won the first IZA Prize in 2002. According to the award statement by the IZA Prize Committee, "Jacob Mincer is the founding father of modern empirical labor economics. His efforts in developing the scientific instruments and methods used by today's economists to analyze the problems and prospects of the working world are almost unparalleled." The complete text of the document is contained in this book.

The new volume provides a – long overdue – account of Mincer's influential career. It is authored by the Portuguese economist and IZA Research Fellow Pedro Teixeira, a veritable expert on Mincer and his work. Remarkably, Jacob Mincer was always available to the author for many enlightening discussions that made this exceptional volume possible. Depicting Mincer's varied research activities against the background of an eventful life, this book is a necessity for everyone interested in the development of what has become the standard toolset of today's labor economists.

Pedro N. Teixeira: Jacob Mincer: The Founding Father of Modern Labor Economics Oxford University Press, 2007; ISBN 978-3-540-69381-0 [view table of contents]