President Hoyer congratulates the Nobel prize winners for their work on poverty

EIB president Werner Hoyer congratulated Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, who won the 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their experimental work on alleviating global poverty:

“The award represents the growing recognition that poverty is an urgent - but solvable – challenge.

The work of the prize winners provides numerous practical examples of how governments and other public institutions can promote inclusive economic growth for the poor and other people left behind in society. These examples serve as an inspiration to us at the EIB. They are a reminder that there is so much more we can achieve.

The selection of this year’s winners also underlines the importance of an evidence-based approach to policy-making and investment. In the past, randomized control trials were largely confined to medical science. Thanks to the experimental trials conducted by the winners, we now know that these trials can also give many insights into how investment can reduce poverty. This should encourage all financiers to ask rigorous questions about the impact of their investments – and to use the hard evidence to continuously enhance their impact.

We would also like to celebrate their win as a win for diversity in achieving excellence. This is a clear testament to the fact that talent thrives in a diverse and inclusive environment.”