I´m sure that you know the Nobel Peace Prize, but have you ever heard of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences? If not here are some facts about it:
Tough it is often referred as the Nobel Prize in Economics it isn´t an original Nobel Prize. Nevertheless, the criteria, process and presentation are similar to the prizes from Nobel´s will. Officially it is called “Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel” and is also administered by the Nobel Foundation. The prize was established at the 300th anniversary of the Sveriges Riksbank in 1968 by means of their donation. In 1969 the Dutch economist Jan Tinbergen and Norwegian Ragnar Frisch were the first laureates to be selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Every September the elected committee sends out invitations to thousands of economists in various countries for the upcoming year. The members of the Swedish royal academy and former laureates are allowed to nominate someone. If one wants to participate in it, they have to send their proposals in till February. Then they get examined and in the beginning of September potential laureates are chosen. There is a selection process, and the winner gets the same things just as the other prizes.
In 2009 Elinor Ostrom from the US was the first woman to win this prize. She was born in the area of the great depression and grew up in a very difficult situation. Her family was really poor but as she lived close to Beverly Hills, her mother managed to get her into Beverly Hills High School, where only rich children went to. As she wrote in her autobiography, she didn´t receive any support from her family to go to college and had to work as a secretary and in the library. She had to fight her way up in order to be able to begin with her research, which in the end lead her to the Nobel Prize. She did an “Analysis of the economic governance”, which was elected to be the winner. Her work demonstrated how common properties could be used by a group of people. She received a 1.44 million dollars which she donated.
So far only two women received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which compared to the number of men, is a minority. I find it quite sad, that even in the 21st century, there still is such a big difference.