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The 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded to Joel Mokyr ‘for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress’ and to Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt ‘for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction’.
Congratulations to CEPR Research Fellow, Distinguished Fellow and Advisory Group Member Philippe Aghion, who was one of the three awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences earlier today. Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt were recognised for their work on ‘the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction’, whilst Joel Mokyr was awarded the other half of the prize for ‘for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress’.
This year’s prize focused on creation and destruction. The committee commended all three laureates for their research on how innovation drives continued progress and sustains economic growth, whilst also highlighting how creative destruction gives rise to conflicts that must be managed constructively, ensuring that established companies and interest groups do not block innovation out of fear of disadvantage.
John Hassler, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, commented that this year’s laureates’ work "shows that economic growth cannot be taken for granted" and that, to avoid stagnation, "we must uphold the mechanisms that underlie creative destruction."
Philippe Aghion has been a CEPR Research Fellow since 1989 and is currently affiliated to the Development Economics, Organisational Economics, Macroeconomics and Growth, and Climate Change and the Environment programme areas. From 1998 to 2006, he served as programme director for the Industrial Organisation programme area, and in 2024 he was appointed as Distinguished Fellow and Advisory Board Member. In addition, he leads the CEPR Research Policy Network on Growth, Innovation and Social Model in Europe, and is a member of the Artificial Intelligence Research Policy Network.
Over the course of his affiliation with CEPR, Philippe has contributed extensively to the network, authoring or co-authoring over 50 Discussion Papers, 8 chapters for CEPR eBooks, and 12 VoxEU Columns. Beyond his publications, he has appeared in 4 multimedia episodes from VoxTalks and VoxEU Videos. He frequently attends conferences and presents his research at CEPR events, and is set to deliver a keynote speech at the 2025 Paris Symposium on Saturday December 6th. Recordings of several of his past keynote speeches can be found below.
Philippe currently holds Chairs at the Collège de France, INSEAD, and the London School of Economics, and is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the British Academy.
Joel Mokyr is the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Economics and History at Northwestern University and Sackler Professor (by special appointment) at the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at the University of Tel Aviv. Peter Howitt is Professor of Economics and the Lyn Crost Professor of Social Sciences at Brown University.
A collection of all three Nobel Laureates’ contributions to CEPR can be found below. The full press release published by the Committee for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences can be found here.
Congratulations to Philippe, Peter, and Joel for this fantastic achievement.