Economists Hart and Holmstrom Win Nobel Prize

Researchers Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom have won the Nobel Prize in economics for 2016, the award committee announced Monday. The British and Finland-born economists, respectively, were given the award for their work on contract theory, which has provided a greater understanding of performance-based pay for top global executives. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award, adding, “[Their work] lays an intellectual foundation for designing policies and institutions in many areas, from bankruptcy legislation to political constitutions.” Hart is working at Harvard. Holmstrom is a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.