Nobel Prize in Economics 2023 for a Pioneering Woman Working with Historical Data

“It is about time that a third woman is recognized with the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel. Claudia Goldin is an outstanding economist who has worked on a wide range of topics, including women in the workforce, the gender pay gap, income inequality, technological change, education, and immigration. Even more important to me are the methods she uses. She draws on the value of the past for the present: Using historical data, she quantifies long-term developments, from which insights can be gained into key economic relationships. This is also an important part of my own research agenda. In fact, she invited me to give my first talk at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) when she was its program director.

Goldin has made a virtue of necessity by focusing her work as a pioneering woman in economics on women in the labor market. As the Nobel Committee noted in its award announcement, Goldin provided the first comprehensive account of women's earnings and participation in the labor market over the very long run. In doing so, she initiated an important and ongoing debate and enabled a fact-based assessment.”