The 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt for their groundbreaking research explaining how technological progress and innovation drive long-term economic growth.
Their work demonstrates that development is not guaranteed – it requires openness, competition, and a culture that encourages change.
Innovation as the engine of economic growth
The laureates’ research combines historical and theoretical perspectives. Joel Mokyr showed that sustainable growth is possible only when practical knowledge is linked with scientific understanding of technological mechanisms. Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, in turn, developed the concept of creative destruction – the process by which new technologies replace old ones, generating both economic progress and social tension.
– In the Aghion–Howitt model, competition becomes a driving force for development. The role of the state is not to protect “national champions,” but to create conditions for fair rivalry where there are both winners and losers. It’s a completely new way of looking at economic policy – comments Prof. Adam Noga from the Department of Economics at Kozminski University.
Culture, education, and diffusion of innovation – Kozminski University’s perspective
According to Prof. Noga, following Joel Mokyr’s approach, culture is the key factor behind growth – not the state or the market, but social attitudes toward knowledge and change. Modern challenges such as deglobalization, declining social trust, and cultural isolation can weaken innovation mechanisms.
– Education remains a major source of sustainable growth – especially the kind that builds curiosity and openness to new ideas. Europe’s biggest problem today is fragmentation. Acting together as a continent would give us an enormous advantage in spreading innovation – emphasizes the Kozminski University economist.
The meaning of the 2025 Nobel Prize
The prize awarded to Mokyr, Aghion, and Howitt reminds us that economic growth requires not only technological innovation but also responsible management of social consequences.
In the era of artificial intelligence and global tensions, the laureates’ message is especially relevant: innovation remains a condition for progress, but it must be supported by education, competition, and a culture of collaboration.
For economies such as Poland, their research serves as an impulse to reflect on the direction of innovation and education policies.
Kozminski University supports – through education, research, and collaboration with business – a vision of development based on balance between technological progress and social responsibility.
