By: Abeer Khan
15 Oct, 2025
Three longstanding CIFAR researchers recognized with the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics
October 15, 2025
Nobel laureates Philippe Aghion, Joel Mokyr and Peter Howitt were members of CIFAR’s Economic Growth & Policy and Institutions, Organizations & Growth research programs
CIFAR is celebrating three new Nobel Laureates whose achievements in economic sciences build on our legacy of bold and exceptional research.
Philippe Aghion, Joel Mokyr and Peter Howitt, members of CIFAR’s former economics research programs, were recently awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2025 for demonstrating innovation-driven economic growth.
Through their work, the three scholars demonstrate how technological innovation can drive sustained economic progress — a phenomenon the world has experienced for the first time in history over the past two centuries.
One half of the prize was awarded to Mokyr “for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress.”
Mokyr (Northwestern University; Eitan Berglas School of Economics) was a member of the Advisory Committee in CIFAR’s Economic Growth & Policy research program from 1997 to 2003, and subsequently served as the Chair of the Advisory Committee for our Institutions, Organizations & Growth program from 2004 to 2020.
Aghion (Collège de France; INSEAD; London School of Economics and Political Science) and Howitt (Brown University) jointly received the other half of the award “for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction.”
Aghion was an Associate Fellow in CIFAR’s Economic Growth & Policy program from 2000 to 2004 and then an Associate Fellow and Fellow in our Institutions, Organizations & Growth program from 2004 to 2020. Howitt was also an Associate Fellow in our Economic Growth & Policy program from 1994 to 2002.
With the addition of these three exceptional researchers, CIFAR’s community has included 26 Nobel Laureates throughout its more than four-decade history.
“This recognition both acknowledges the bold, impactful work undertaken by our researchers in economic sciences and also underscores the importance of championing long-term research,” says CIFAR President & CEO Stephen J. Toope. “This award is a reflection of the extraordinary talent within CIFAR’s global community and exemplifies the importance of supporting interdisciplinary and deeply collaborative fundamental research that builds new knowledge and seeds the next leaps in human discovery.”
Understanding sustained economic growth
Mokyr used historical sources as a primary means to uncover the roots of sustained economic growth. His work showed that for growth to be maintained, there must be a combination of useful knowledge, mechanical competence, and institutions that are conducive to technological progress. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, scientific understanding was lacking, making it difficult to build upon new discoveries and inventions.
As a longtime member and chair of CIFAR’s Advisory Council, Mokyr provided guidance and advice to CIFAR’s research programs.
Aghion and Howitt also studied the mechanisms behind sustained growth. In 1992, they developed a mathematical model for creative destruction, a term used to describe the process by which new and better products and processes enter the market, disrupting companies that sell older models. Innovation represents something new and creative, as well as destructive, since the companies whose technology becomes outdated experience loss.
During their time as CIFAR fellows, Aghion and Howitt collaborated extensively with each other to analyze innovation-based growth theory and investigate the various ways in which competition can enhance growth.
In 2001, Howitt credited his involvement in CIFAR’s Economic Growth & Policy program as a key motivator for his work.
“There is no other forum in the world where presenting my work on growth theory leads to more useful feedback,” he said. “From what I have learned in this program, I feel more confident than before that I am able to identify theoretical problems that are really important not just in purely intellectual terms but also from the point of view of history, public policy and the state of econometric knowledge.”
Leading the way in economics research
This announcement marks the second consecutive year CIFAR researchers have been recognized with The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
In 2024, Daron Acemoglu (MIT) and James Robinson (University of Chicago), both of whom served as Fellows in CIFAR’s Institutions, Organizations & Growth program, were awarded the prize for their ongoing work to understand the prosperity of nations. CIFAR Distinguished Fellow, Geoffrey Hinton (University of Toronto), was also awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics.
These recognitions underscore CIFAR’s long history of championing long-term, interdisciplinary, high-impact research conducted by a global community of renowned researchers who continue to transform the world around us.
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