Prof. Joel Mokyr, Visiting Lecturer at Tel Aviv University’s Eitan Berglas School of Economics, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

He shares the prize with Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for their pioneering work on how innovation and the forces of creative destruction drive economic growth and improve living standards around the world.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awards the Nobel Prize in Economics, noted that their research explains how technological innovation leads to new products and production methods that replace older ones, ultimately improving living standards, health, and quality of life. The Academy also emphasized that such progress cannot be taken for granted.

Prof. Mokyr, a faculty member at Northwestern University and an Israeli-American scholar, was awarded half of the prize, valued at 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately $1.2 million).

In an interview following the announcement, he reflected on his lifelong focus on the forces that drive prosperity, describing his research as an exploration of “why we are so much richer and live so much better than our great-great-grandfathers.”

Prof. Joel Mokyr

A historic day for Israeli academia

Prof. Amal Jamal, Dean of the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences at Tel Aviv University, said:

“On this historic day, we are proud to congratulate our colleague Prof. Joel Mokyr on receiving the Nobel Prize in Economics. Prof. Mokyr regularly teaches as a visiting lecturer at the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University, and his win is a great honor for us. It is yet another testament to the international prestige of Israeli research and to the high standing of our School of Economics.”

Prof. Nitai Katz Bergman, Head of the Eitan Berglas School of Economics, added:

“Prof. Joel Mokyr has been teaching with us for many years as a visiting lecturer at the School of Economics. He is a world-renowned scholar who has greatly contributed to the study of economic growth, and we send him our warmest congratulations. This is a very happy day for all of us.”