This year's Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Philippe Aghion, Peter Howitt and Joel Mokyr for their pioneering research into the relationship between technological innovation and long-term economic growth.
Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt developed a mathematical model that describes the relationship between innovation and growth. They coined the concept of "creative destruction". "Innovations are new and creative and give their creators a market advantage. At the same time, they displace the value of previous innovations and thus weaken the competitive position of previously successful companies," says Prof Fabian Kindermann, Chair of Public Sector Economics at the Institute of Economics and Econometrics at the University of Regensburg.
Joel Mokyr was honoured for his research on the relationship between growth and innovation based on historical sources. A central finding of his work is that long-term growth can only arise from innovation if new discoveries are not made by chance. Rather, a scientific understanding of how new technologies work is required. Only then can an innovation trigger a chain of further innovations that enable long-term growth. Before the Industrial Revolution, scientific explanations for innovations were rare - a fact that explains why a sustainable growth process only began with it.
In a joint research project, Prof Aghion and Prof Dr Lea Cassar, holder of the Chair of Empirical Economics at the Institute of Economics and Econometrics, and two other researchers investigated the question of how competition affects innovation. Specifically, they investigated the relationship between competition and so-called step-by-step innovation. "We were the first to develop a laboratory experiment to test all the predictions of step-by-step innovation models experimentally," says Prof Cassar. "Our results show that intense competition between companies has different effects: On the one hand, it increases the innovation activity of companies that are in a tight race for the best solution. On the other hand, it reduces the innovative strength of companies that feel left behind by the market."
Prof Dr Ernst Tamm, vice-president for research and support for emerging academics at the University of Regensburg, also sees Prof Philippe Aghion's award of the Nobel Prize for Economics 2025 as a special confirmation of the scientific excellence and international networking of the University of Regensburg: "We warmly congratulate Prof Philippe Aghion on winning the Nobel Prize for Economics 2025. We are particularly pleased that there is a scientific collaboration with Prof Lea Cassar from the University of Regensburg, which has resulted in a joint publication. The study on the relationship between competition and innovation not only provides important new insights, but is also an impressive example of how interdisciplinary research can contribute to solving key issues facing society. This award once again emphasises the international visibility and relevance of the research work carried out at the University of Regensburg."
The research area of Behavioural, Experimental and Economic Psychology is a central profile field of the Institute of Economics, Economics and Real Estate at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Real Estate at the University of Regensburg. This area has been continuously strengthened in recent years. One result of this development is the interdisciplinary degree programme "Business, Economics & Psychology", a joint project of the Faculties of Business, Economics and Real Sciences.
In the public event "Nobel Lecture" on Thursday, 23 October 2025, at 18:00, economists from Regensburg will explain what this year's Nobel Prize was awarded for, what findings can be derived from the work of the prizewinners and what practical significance they have. The event is aimed at the general public.
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