The 2014 Nobel Prize for Economics, known as the Sveriges Riksbank prize, has been presented to Jean Tirole.
The Frenchman, who is a researcher and professor at the University of Toulouse, was awarded the prestigious honor for his highly insightful study on the regulation of large companies to curb their monopolistic tendencies.
According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Tirole was given the award "for his analysis of market power and regulation."
The organization also noted that "Jean Tirole is one of the most influential economists of our time. He has made important theoretical research contributions in a number of areas, but most of all he has clarified how to understand and regulate industries with a few powerful firms."
Tirole is the first sole winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in more than half a decade. Last year, the award was split between three eminent economists from the United States; Lars Peter Hansen, Robert J. Shiller and Eugene Fama. The last time only one person was granted the award was in 2008, when American economist Paul Krugman won the award for his study on trade patterns.
The 61-years-old industrial organization expert was at a loss for words when contacted about his Nobel Prize for Economics award. He told the Nobel Prize that "I was very surprised. I was incredibly surprised at the honour and it took me half an hour to recoup from the call. I still haven't recouped yet, but I immediately thought to all those who helped me, you know, with my career, and my family of course, and also my colleagues and students who have played a big role in my career. And in particular the person who started here in Toulouse, the Centre in Toulouse, Jean-Jacques Laffront who passed away and probably would have been, would have deserved to be with me today in this Prize for regulation and competition policy."
There were many other nominees for this years' Nobel Prize for Economics award, such as Heidi Williams, Carmen Reinhart, Ken Rogoff, Ariel Parkes, Steve Ross, William Baumol, Sir Anthony Atkinson, Angus Deaton, Marty Weitzman, Bill Nordhaus and Sir Partha Dasgupta.
The Nobel Prize for Economics is awarded annually to pioneering researchers in the field of economics. The first recipients of the award were Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen in 1969.
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