The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2026 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford. The academy recognized their work on the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation.
The research helped economists build macroeconomic models from the behavior and expectations of households and businesses. Those models are used to examine how monetary and fiscal policy may affect inflation, employment, consumption, and economic fluctuations.
Hall is affiliated with Stanford University, while Woodford is affiliated with Columbia University. Reuters and the Associated Press reported that their work has influenced the tools governments and central banks use when responding to shocks such as inflation and energy crises.
The economics prize was the final award announced in the 2026 Nobel season. The honor is formally separate from the original Nobel Prizes but is administered alongside them.