Bengt Holmström becomes Finland’s newest Nobel winner

Photo: Steven Senne/Lehtikuva/AP

The Finnish economist, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wins the honour together with his British colleague, Harvard professor Oliver Hart. Announced in October 2016 and awarded at a ceremony on December 10, it recognises their work on contracts and incentives, trying to answer tough questions such as:

How can an employment contract motivate someone to work hard but not take unwise risks? How can that employee be properly compensated for her performance but not for matters outside her control? For many economists, it was about time Holmström won the Nobel Prize. “I think my first reaction to the news was ‘Finally!’” says Topi Miettinen, professor at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki. “The chance that he would win the prize has been discussed for a long time. Everyone at Hanken was very positive. As soon as I heard he won I decided to have a special session in my microeconomics class about Bengt’s moral hazard ideas.”

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