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America’s Claudia Goldin Wins Nobel Prize in Economics

The Nobel prize in economics was on Monday awarded to American economist Claudia Goldin for her research helping understand the role of women in the labour market.

The Harvard professor, who is the third woman to be awarded the prestigious economics prize, was given the nod “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes,” the jury said.

“Her research reveals the causes of change, as well as the main sources of the remaining gender gap,” it added in a statement.

Globally, about 50 percent of women participate in the labour market compared to 80 percent of men, but women earn less and are less likely to reach the top of the career ladder, the prize committee noted.

Of all the Nobels, the economics prize has the fewest number of women laureates, with just two previous winners since it was first awarded in 1969 — Elinor Ostrom in 2009 and Esther Duflo in 2019.

The jury highlighted that Goldin’s work’s “provided the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries.”

Last year, the honour went to US economists Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig together with former Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke for research on banks in times of turmoil.

Lillian Jijingi