The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded to US economist Richard H. Thaler from the University of Chicago for his research in the field of behavioral economics, bridging the gap between economics and psychology.
"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," the Nobel committee's jury said in a statement.
He is best known for his theoretic works in behavioral finance, which integrates psychology and finance when exploring one's economic decision-making. The economist analyzed how such traits as limited rationality, social preferences, and lack of self-control systematically impact an individual's decision to the same extent as market outcomes. He wrote a total of 6 books. Most recently, Thaler is the author of Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics.
The 2017 prize amount is 9 million Swedish kronas (approximately $1 million). The award ceremony is traditionally held on December 10, the day the Nobel Prize founder passed away. Initially, four Nobel awards were established, according to his will, in the fields of physiology or medicine, physics, chemistry and literature, while the award for contributions to development economics was established in 1968 in memory of Alfred Nobel by the Swedish State Bank.
