Bengt Holmström, Professor at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), receives this year's Nobel prize in economics with Oliver Hart, Professor at Harvard University. They receive the prize for their contribution to contract theory. Þorvaldur Gylfason, Professor in economics at the University of Iceland, co-authored a book with Holmström and other Nordic colleagues on the effects of the global crisis of 2008 on the Nordic countries.
The research of the Nobel prize laureates was described as key to understanding contracts and institutions that hold today's economies together. Holmström is the first Finn to be awarded the Nobel prize in economics, making him the sixth Scandinavian to receive this honour; three Norwegians and two Swedes are Nobel laureates.
Holmström is co-author of the book Nordics in Global Crisis, published in 2010, with Þorvaldur Gylfason, Professor in economics at the University of Iceland, along with three other Nordic economists. The book discusses the the effects of the global economic crisis in 2008 on small and open economies, with special emphasis on why the Nordic countries were hit so hard by the crisis. Furthermore, the authors point out ways in economic policy strategy that Nordic governments should bear in mind to strengthen their financial systems against instability in the global economy.