Awards & Winners

John Bates Clark Medal

John Bates Clark Medal

The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge". According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, it "is widely regarded as one of the field’s most prestigious awards, perhaps second only to the Nobel in economic science." The award was made biennially until 2007, but is being awarded every year from 2009 because many deserving went unawarded. The committee cited economists such as Edward Glaeser and John A. List in campaigning that the award should be annual. Named after the American economist John Bates Clark, it is considered one of the two most prestigious awards in the field of economics, along with the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Following an average wait of 22 years, approximately 40% of past Medal winners have gone on to win the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economics, presented annually since 1969 at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm. Moreover, 11 of the first 17 awardees went on to win the Nobel Prize Award. Although the Clark medal is billed as a prize for "American" economists, it is sufficient that the candidates work in the US at the time of the award; US nationality is not necessary to be considered. Indeed, past winners such as Daron Acemoglu, Emmanuel Saez, and Esther Duflo were born in Turkey, Spain, and France, respectively.
Date Established : 1947

Check all the winners of John Bates Clark Medal presented under John Bates Clark Medal since 1947 .


Daron Acemo?lu

(For making valuable contributions to several distinct fields, starting with labor economics, and successively moving to macroeconomics, institutional economics, and political economy.)

Kevin M. Murphy

(For his study of the causes of growing income inequality between white-collar and blue-collar workers in the United States and his research linking the growth in income inequality to growth in the demand for skilled labor.)

Lawrence Summers

(For his work which generally emphasizes the analysis of empirical economic data in order to answer well-defined questions)

Dale W. Jorgenson

(For his research on investment behavior.)