Joseph E. Stiglitz, George A. Akerlof, and A. Michael Spence Won 2001 Nobel Prize for Their Analyses of Markets with Asymmetric Information

Research Associate Joseph E. Stiglitz, NBER Board Member George A. Akerlof, and A. Michael Spence won the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their pioneering work on the shortcomings and imperfections of market systems.

Stiglitz’s research concentrated on what could be done by ill-informed individuals and operators to improve their positions in markets with asymmetric information. Akerlof concentrated on markets in which the sellers of a product have more information than buyers about the product’s quality. Spence showed how better-informed individuals in a market communicate their information to the less well informed to avoid problems with adverse selection.

Stiglitz, a University Professor at Columbia University at the time of the award, began his affiliation with the NBER in 1978 and was a member of the Public Economics and Economic Fluctuations and Growth Programs. Akerlof was elected to the NBER Board of Directors in 1996, representing the University of California, Berkeley. Spence was the Philip H. Knight Professor and dean emeritus of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

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