Obayashi PrizeRecipient of the Second Obayashi Prize
(2002)
Mr.Paul KRUGMANProfessor, Department of Economics, Princeton University (at the time of receiving the prize)
| 1953 | Born in the U.S. |
|---|---|
| 1974 | Graduates from Yale University |
| 1977 | Earns Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) |
Following stints as Assistant Professor of Economics at Yale University and Professor of Economics at MIT and Stanford University, Dr. Krugman is currently serving as a Professor of Economics at Princeton University. In addition to being one of the senior economists on the President's Council of Economic Advisors, he has served as an economics consultant for the World Bank and the Commission of the European Communities.
| 1991 | Awarded the John Bates Clark medal, which is regarded as a gateway to the Nobel Prize in Economics |
|---|
Reason for receiving the prize
For some time now, economic globalization and the emergence of a borderless economy have been topics of discussion, and with the complex intermingling of cities, regions, and governments, the global economy is being transformed at various levels. Given such situation, Dr. Krugman has focused on the phenomena of the geographical concentration, clustering, and distribution of economic activities. He considers the occurrence of such phenomena to be inevitable and based on rules, attributes them to certain complex factors, and has developed a mathematical economic model treating the same. This is known as the "new spatial economics," and it has attracted the attention of economists around the world. The field is even now continuing to evolve and develop. Dr. Krugman's research is expected to contribute significantly to the development of international aspects of regional economic systems and economic policy planning involving numerous countries, and is not limited to the urban or regional economies of a single country. At the same time, his research offers significant clues for solving the problems facing urban areas.