Nobel Laureates Highlight: Frisch and Tinbergen
Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen
Since 1969, pioneers in the field of economics and the social sciences have received the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, often regarded as the Nobel award of Economics. In the half-century that has followed, the honor has been designated 51 times to 84 Laureates — many of whom we hope to highlight in this series. This week, we’re featuring the recipients of the first prize, Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen, “for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes.”
Life of Ragnar Frisch
Ragnar Frisch was born in Oslo, the son of a goldsmith, and he trained as a smith apprentice. His mother thought he should attend the university, and they chose economics as a subject because it seemed the shortest and easiest. After graduating in 1919, he studied economics and mathematics abroad for several years. He received his doctor's degree in mathematical statistics in Oslo in 1926 and later became a professor. He married twice and had one daughter. Ragnar Frisch's hobby was beekeeping, something he described as an obsession
Life of Jan Tinbergen
Jan Tinbergen was born in The Hague and became interested in mathematics and natural science at an early age. He began studying physics in Leiden and took part in discussions with his professors, including Albert Einstein. His interests shifted to economics, which he thought would allow him to contribute more to society. Despite attempts to dissuade him, economics became his focus. He spent most of his career as a professor in the Netherlands. Jan Tinbergen's younger brother Nikolaas shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Work of Ragnar Frisch
Ragnar Frisch, along with Jan Tinbergen, pioneered the development of mathematical formulations of economics. He coined the term econometrics for studies in which he used statistical methods to describe economic systems. He is best known for his contributions to dynamic economic modeling, and in 1933 he presented the first mathematical economic model that could describe fluctuations in the business cycle. His later work concerned models for economic planning.
Work of Jan Tinbergen
Like Ragnar Frisch before him, Jan Tinbergen was a pioneer in changing economics from a science formulated in words to one based on mathematics. During the 1930s he developed the first macroeconomic model that described in detail variables from the entire economy and placed them in a mathematical relationship with one another. Previously this could only be done in general terms, but now it could be done with concrete numbers. Jan Tinbergen used his knowledge of statistics to test models in order to choose those that were most suitable.
Disclaimer: The excerpts above and accompanying pictures are courtesy of the Nobel Foundation. To learn more, visit www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/.