The Nobel Prize in Economics rewards Claudia Goldin for her work on the place of women in the job market

2023-10-09 11:08:00

Gender equality is in the spotlight this year. The Nobel Prize in Economics was, in fact, awarded this Monday, October 9 to the American Claudia Goldin for her work on the place of women in the job market. The economist was already favorite in 2022.

This 77-year-old Harvard professor and specialist in labor and economic history “ advances our understanding of the situation of women in the labor market », announced the Nobel jury.

Work on income differences between men and women

The nomination of this economist also carries a strong political message from the Nobel jury on the consideration of women in the economy.

“Claudia Goldin’s research has given us new and often surprising insight into the historical and contemporary role of women in the labor market,” said the jury.

« Claudia Goldin delved into archives and collected more than 200 years of data on the United States, allowing her to show how and why differences in income and employment rates between men and women have evolved over time. over time », noted Randi Hjalmarsson, you Nobel jury.

The author retraced the long journey of American workers towards equality, highlighting the role of history and technological advances in their integration into the job market, but also the difficult trade-off that women must make between career and family. since the beginning of the 20th century. In his latest work published in 2021 in the United States, “ Career and family: women’s century-long journey towards equity “, Claudia Goldin explains the persistence of these disparities and how they fuel each other through “greedy work”, that is to say the fact that many professions pay disproportionately increased employee availability, long working hours and weekend work.

Third woman to win this award

The economics prize was created by the Bank of Sweden in 1969, sixty years following the five traditional prizes (medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace), earning it the nickname of “false Nobel” among its detractors. But in fifty-four years, only two women have received this prize: the American Elinor Ostrom in 2009 and the Franco-American Esther Duflo in 2019. The labor market expert therefore becomes the third winner of this prize.

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Last year, the prize went to Ben Bernanke, former president of the American central bank (Fed) and his compatriots Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig, for their work on banks and their necessary rescues during financial storms.

This year, like the other Nobels, the prize is endowed with 11 million Swedish crowns (920,000 euros), the highest nominal value (in Swedish currency) in the more than century-old history of the prize.

(With AFP)