Indian-American economist Abhijit Banerjee, two others win Nobel Prize in Economics

"The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019 was awarded jointly to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer 'for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty,'" the academy said.

In two decades, the trio's new experiment-based approach has transformed development economics, which is now a flourishing field of research, according to the release.

Duflo is a French-American while Abhijit Banerjee an India-born American citizen. Kremer also hails from US.

Mr Banerjee, 58, was born in India and has a PhD from Harvard University, US. Currently, he is teaching Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.

The 47-year-old Duflo, who was born in Paris, is currently a professor at Cambridge, England. She also has a PhD from MIT. in 2015, Mr Banerjee married Duflo.

Michael Kremer, 55, is a professor at Harvard University and has a PhD from the same institution.

The prize amount of 9 million Swedish krona ($917,000) will be distributed equally between the three Laureates. 

Indian politicians wished Abhijit Banerjee over the Nobel Prize victory.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal tweeted; " Abhijit Banerjee's pathbreaking work has also benefitted lakhs of children studying in Delhi govt schools One of Delhi govt's most imp education reform 'Chunauti' has transformed govt school classroom teaching. It is based on the model developed by him."

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee posted: "Hearty congratulations to Abhijit Banerjee, alumnus of South Point School & Presidency College Kolkata, for winning the Nobel Prize in Economics. Another Bengali has done the nation proud. We are overjoyed. "

Image: UNI