Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, Indian-American Economist received considerably the World’s most prestigious award “Nobel Prize” in economics (the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel) at the ceremony held in Stockholm, Sweden. The award will be shared by his wife Esther Duflo and colleague Michael Kremer.
The trio were conferred with the award for their research paper presented on “Experimental Approach to Alleviating Global Poverty”.
At the ceremony, both Abhijit Banerjee and his wife Eshter Duflo chose to wear traditional Indian wear. The former wore a black Bandhgala (Jodhpuri) with an off white Dhoti and the latter wore a blue Saree (Sari). Michael Kremer, colleague and friend wore a black suit.
Watch Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer receive their Nobel Prize at Stockholm, Sweden during the award ceremony
Watch Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer receive their medals and diplomas at the #NobelPrize award ceremony today. Congratulations!
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) December 10, 2019
They were awarded the 2019 Prize in Economic Sciences “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.” pic.twitter.com/c3ltP7EXcF
The three economists were not only awarded with medals and diplomas, but were also presented with a prize money of kr (Swedish Krona) 9 million (Rs. 6.7 crore) which they will share amongst themselves.
Pics Credits: Reddit and Nobel Prize Youtube Channel
However, the three Nobel Prize winners have already announced what they will do with the prize money. Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer will donate the money to Weiss Fund for Research in the field of Development Economics.
Banerjee was born in Mumbai in February 1961. After completing is primary education from Kolkata’s renowned South Point High School, he completed his B. Sc. (H) in Economics in 1981 from the Presidency College, a college who has alumni like Amartya Sen, another Nobel Laureate. In 1983 he completed his MA in Economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. In 1988 he received his Ph. D. in Economics from the prestigious Harvard University.
Both Abhijit Banerjee and his wife Esther Duflo are professors of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their follow Nobel Laureate is the professor of Economics at the Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Nobel Citation said that the extensive research undertaken by the team of these three Nobel Laureates will aid in improving the ability of nations to counter and tackle the issue of Global Poverty. It added that their experiment-based approach may as well help in transforming the field of Development Economics.
Number of economists from across the globe are saying that their efforts will help thw world in ‘Redefining” Development Economics and if implemented will show positive results in poverty mitigation.
In an interview with a leading news channel of India, Banerjee had said that strident nationalism takes away attention from pressing issues such as poverty. He said that the case can be seen in developing countries like India. Banerjee said that there are many schemes that can be implements like a minimum guarantee scheme which can address the issue of Rural Distress in India.
