Before Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, Americans have dominated Nobel Prize in economics

The economics prize, won by Paul Krugman and Milton Friedman in the past, was the final of the six awards in 2020.

US economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson were on Monday awarded the 2020 Nobel Economics Prize for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

A file photo shows a gold Nobel Prize medal. Americans Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson have won the Nobel Prize in economics for "improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats.” (AP Photo)

“Auctions are everywhere and affect our everyday lives. This year’s Economic Sciences Laureates, Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, have improved auction theory and invented new auction formats, benefiting sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world,” the Nobel Prize’s official website tweeted.

The economics prize, won by Paul Krugman and Milton Friedman in the past, was the final of the six awards in 2020. The award, which is the only Nobel prize not originally included in Alfred Nobel’s last will and testament, was established in 1968 to celebrate the Swedish central bank’s 300th anniversary. Americans have dominated the prize and only two women have won since it was first awarded in 1969.

Here is a list of the winners:

2019: Abhijit Banerjee (US), Esther Duflo (France-US), Michael Kremer (US)

2018: William Nordhaus (US) and Paul Romer (US)

2017: Richard Thaler (US)

2016: Oliver Hart (Britain-US) and Bengt Holmstrom (Finland)

2015: Angus Deaton (Britain-US)

2014: Jean Tirole (France)

2013: Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller (US)

2012: Alvin Roth and Lloyd Shapley (US)

2011: Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims (US)

2010: Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen (US) and Christopher Pissarides (Cyprus-Britain)

2009: Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson (US)

2008: Paul Krugman (US)

2007: Leonid Hurwicz, Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson (US)

2006: Edmund Phelps (US)

2005: Thomas Schelling (US), Robert J. Aumann (US-Israel)

2004: Finn Kydland (Norway), Edward Prescott (US)

2003: Robert Engle (US), Clive Granger (Britain)

2002: Daniel Kahneman (Israel-US) and Vernon Smith (US)

2001: George Akerlof (US), A. Michael Spence (US), Joseph Stiglitz (US)

2000: James Heckman (US), Daniel McFadden (US)

1999: Robert Mundell (Canada)

1998: Amartya Sen (India)

1997: Robert Merton (US), Myron Scholes (US)

1996: James Mirrlees (Britain), William Vickrey (US)

1995: Robert Lucas Jr (US)

1994: John Harsanyi (US), John Nash (US), Reinhard Selten (Germany)

1993: Robert Fogel (US), Douglass North (US)

1992: Gary Becker (US)

1991: Ronald Coase (Britain)

1990: Harry Markowitz (US), Merton Miller (US), William Sharpe (US)

1989: Trygve Haavelmo (Norway)

1988: Maurice Allais (France)

1987: Robert Solow (US)

1986: James Buchanan (US)

1985: Franco Modigliani (US)

1984: Richard Stone (Britain)

1983: Gerard Debreu (US)

1982: George Stigler (US)

1981: James Tobin (US)

1980: Lawrence Klein (US)

1979: Theodore Schultz (US), Arthur Lewis (Britain)

1978: Herbert Simon (US)

1977: Bertil Ohlin (Sweden), James Meade (Britain)

1976: Milton Friedman (US)

1975: Leonid Kantorovich (Soviet Union), Tjalling Koopmans (US)

1974: Gunnar Myrdal (Sweden), Friedrich von Hayek (Britain)

1973: Vassily Leontief (US)

1972: John Hicks (Britain), Kenneth Arrow (US)

1971: Simon Kuznets (US)

1970: Paul Samuelson (US)

1969: Ragnar Frisch (Norway), Jan Tinbergen (Netherlands)