Joel Mokyr

Joel Mokyr (born July 26, 1946) is a Dutch-born American-Israeli economic historian renowned for his pioneering research on the role of knowledge, culture, and institutions in driving technological innovation and long-term economic growth. He holds the position of Robert H. Strotz Professor of Economics and History at Northwestern University, where he has been a faculty member since 1974 with joint appointments in both departments, and he was awarded one half of the 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences (commonly known as the Nobel Prize in Economics) for identifying the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress.

Mokyr earned a BA in Economics and History from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1968, followed by an MPhil in 1972 and a PhD in Economics from Yale University in 1974. He joined Northwestern as an assistant professor in 1974, advancing to associate professor by 1978 and full professor by 1980, before assuming the Strotz chairmanship in 1994. Throughout his career, Mokyr has held visiting positions at institutions including Stanford University, the University of Chicago, and Harvard University, and he serves as co-director of Northwestern's Center for Economic History, a member of the National Bureau of Economic Research's board of directors, and chair of the advisory committee for CIFAR's Institutions, Organizations and Growth program. His research interests encompass economic history, the economics of technological and population change, modern European history (particularly Britain and its empire), and the history of science, technology, and medicine.

Joel Mokyr was born on July 26, 1946, in Leiden, Netherlands, to Dutch Jewish parents whose family had survived the Holocaust. His father, a civil servant, died of cancer when Mokyr was one year old, leaving his mother to raise him amid the postwar challenges facing Jewish families in Europe.

In Israel, Mokyr adapted to a new cultural and linguistic landscape, transitioning from Dutch to Hebrew and immersing himself in the vibrant, resilient society of Haifa. He completed his mandatory military service before beginning university studies. This period shaped his early awareness of Jewish perseverance and the value of knowledge in overcoming adversity, influences that echoed through his later intellectual pursuits.