American economist Claudia Goldin won the Nobel Prize in economics on Monday for her work that has advanced knowledge of women’s roles in the workforce. “For having advanced our understanding of women’s labor market outcomes,” the panel nominated the 77-year-old Harvard professor, the third woman to receive the renowned economics prize.
Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin
According to Goldin, who spoke with AFP over the phone following the decision, the Nobel is a “very important prize, not just for me, but for the many people who work in this field and who are trying to understand why there is so much change, but there are still large differences” in pay.
Goldin provided evidence to the jury about the historical and current variables influencing the supply and demand for women in the labor market by examining the history of women’s employment in the United States.
Nobel committee member Randi Hjalmarsson, at a news conference, stated, “She has demonstrated that the sources of the gender gap change over time.”
Although Goldin had not studied policy, Hjalmarsson continued, her work had given an “underlying foundation” that had ramifications for policy worldwide.
Although 80 percent of males and 50 percent of women work globally, the prize committee pointed out that women make less money and are less likely to climb the professional ladder.
Two centuries of data
Since the prize was initially given out in 1969, only two women have received the Nobel Prize in Economics. Elinor Ostrom received the award in 2009, and Esther Duflo did it in 2019; Goldin is the only woman to have won. This is Claudia Goldin’s impact on economics! Let us read more about the great work done by the American economist and Nobel laureate.
- Goldin greeted the growing number of prominent female economists, including Cecilia Rouse and Claudia Olivetti, at a news conference held on campus. However, she acknowledged that misconceptions about the area of economics remain.
- According to Goldin, many young female students are put off by the misconception that economics “concerns finance,” while economics is about people. The topic is inequality. It concerns the labor force of women. It concerns health. It has to do with economic growth.”
- The verdict stated that Goldin “trawled the archives and collected over 200 years of data from the US.”
- She investigated something many historians decided not to explore earlier because they didn’t think these data existed.
- According to Goldin’s research, female labor force participation did not always increase but followed a “U-shaped curve” as participation fell as society moved from an agricultural to an industrial one.
- With the expansion of the service sector in the early 20th century, participation began to rise.
- According to her research, “structural change and evolving social norms” were responsible for the trends.
- Although variations in schooling and career choices could account for a large portion of the wage disparity in the past, Goldin “has shown that the bulk of this earnings difference is now between men and women in the same occupation.”
- Goldin’s work stated that it primarily arises with the first child’s birth.
- In 1990, Goldin achieved another first for the Harvard Economics Department: tenure. Her study of the causes of income disparity, “Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women,” had a tremendous impact.
- Through her work, she has observed that female labor market participation follows a U-shaped curve over 200 years rather than an upward tendency, as many may have predicted.
- Goldin demonstrated how women’s decisions about their careers, marriages, and even changes to their surnames served as social indicators and explained why women currently make up the majority of college students.
The Pill
Goldin’s research showed that the availability of the contraceptive pill contributed significantly to the 20th century’s rapid rise in educational attainment by “offering new opportunities for career planning,” according to the Nobel Committee. The economist clarified that women’s educational attainment in the US has increased significantly. “But in many places, their pay and promotion haven’t,” she said, blaming the difference mostly on “the interaction between the home and the family and the marketplace.”
Goldin, who grew up in the Bronx, New York, intended to major in microbiology when she enrolled at Cornell University. Still, she quickly changed her mind after attending an industrial organization course by economist Alfred Kahn.
About The Awards
The Economics Prize was established in 1968 thanks to a grant from the Swedish Central Bank, and it is the only Nobel not included in the original five awarded by Alfred Nobel’s testament, written in 1896. This year’s Nobel season concludes with the economics prize, which saw four women take home the coveted honor—just one short of the record five from 2009.
On Friday, the Peace Prize was awarded to Iranian woman rights activist Narges Mohammadi. Norwegian dramatist Jon Fosse received a literary award earlier this week.
The other science prizes were given for innovations in chemistry, physics, and medicine that contributed to the development of quantum dots, nanoparticles, and ultra-fast light flashes that let scientists investigate the electrons within atoms and molecules. These innovations included the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
Disagreement regarding the award
Even though the prize is likely the most prestigious in economics, there is some debate about it. Since the Nobel Prize was established and funded by Sweden’s central bank in 1968 rather than as one of Alfred Nobel’s original rewards, many people have questioned the legitimacy of the award itself throughout time. The American economists Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond, and Philip Dybvig were given this prize in 2022 for their studies on banks and financial crises.
Conclusion
The journey of Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin is truly an inspiration for many. In a well-deserved recognition of her groundbreaking work, American Professor Claudia Goldin has been honored with the Nobel Prize in Economics for 2023. Her invaluable contributions to our understanding of women’s roles in the workforce and Claudia Goldin’s impact on economics
have garnered her this prestigious award. As only the third woman ever to receive this esteemed prize, Goldin’s impact on the field is remarkable. As we celebrate Claudia Goldin’s Nobel Prize in Economics, we acknowledge her as a trailblazer who tirelessly explored the nuances of gender and labor markets. Her work has enriched our understanding of societal dynamics and paved the way for future generations of economists to challenge stereotypes and inspire meaningful change.
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