Professor Claudia Goldin of Harvard University was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday for her work on women in the labor market.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm said the prize honors Goldin’s work “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labor market outcomes.”
Despite decades of progress, women remain underrepresented in the workforce and earn less than their male counterparts. Goldin’s analysis of more than 200 years of U.S. labor force data shows how employment rates and the gender wage gap depend not just on the economy but also on evolving social norms related to women’s education and roles in the home and family.
“Understanding women’s role in the [labor market] is important for society,” Jakob Svensson, chair of the prize committee, said in a statement. “Thanks to Claudia Goldin’s groundbreaking research we now know much more about the underlying factors and which barriers may need to be addressed in the future.”
This is the second year the award has gone to an American economist. Last year’s winners were former Federal Reserve chair Ben S. Bernanke, Douglas W. Diamond of the University of Chicago and Philip H. Dybvig of Washington University in St. Louis, who were honored for their work on banks and financial crises.
David J. Lynch contributed to this report
