US economists David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens have been awarded 2021 Nobel prize for economics for work that “challenged conventional wisdom”.
- The trio shared the prize for pioneering work in the use of “natural experiments”. Natural experiments use real-life situations to work out the impact of government decisions.
- Prof Card is best known for his study of the impact of minimum wage increases on employment in US states.
- The Nobel committee said in a statement that the researchers were honoured for providing “new insights about the labour market” and showing “what conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from natural experiments”.
