The 77-year-old Harvard professor, who is the third woman to be awarded the prestigious economics prize, was given the nod"for having advanced our understanding of women's labour market outcomes," the jury said.
The Nobel prize in economics has the fewest number of women laureates, with just two others since it was first awarded in 1969 -- Elinor Ostrom in 2009 and Esther Duflo in 2019."She studied something that many people, many historians, for instance, simply decided not to study before because they didn't think these data existed," Nobel committee member Randi Hjalmarsson said, calling Goldin"a detective".
"According to Goldin, part of the explanation is that educational decisions, which impact a lifetime of career opportunities, are made at a relatively young age," the jury noted.While much of the earnings gap historically could be explained by differences in education and occupational choices, Goldin"has shown that the bulk of this earnings difference is now between men and women in the same occupation, and that it largely arises with the birth of the first child.
The economics prize is the only prize not among the original five set out by the will of Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896. Along with a prize sum of 11 million Swedish kronor , the Nobel comes with a gold medal and a diploma which laureates receive from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a lavish prize ceremony in Stockholm.