Hi there, Kerstin Enflo! You are an economic historian and in your first year as a member of The Economic Sciences Prize Committee you name an economic historian as the prize winner. Is that really just a coincidence?
“Yes, actually, I believe it is.” Kerstin Enflo laughs over the phone and explains:
“We have a broad approach when working on the committee. We look at important changes, go in-depth and investigate all potential winning researchers. So it isn’t as simple as it being down to me, the prize winner is well researched, and everything has been properly discussed.”
How have you found the first year on the committee?
“It really has been great fun. I had no idea that it was going to be this much fun. It is stimulating and I have learned an awful lot, while contributing my own expertise at the same time. It also involves a lot more work than you might expect. Now that the result is out of the box, so to speak, it feels a bit odd, but fun too.”
This year’s winner, Claudia Goldin has been an honorary doctor at the School of Economics and Management here in Lund since 2011. Have you met her?
“I remember her visit to Lund a few years ago. I met her only very briefly at a conference. But this is great news for Lund too. My colleague at the Department of Economic History at Lund University, Maria Stanfors, knows her better. They really do work in the same field. She can probably give you more personal reflections about Claudia Goldin.”
How would you summarise Goldin’s contribution to research?
“The thing I find most impressive about Claudia Goldin is that she is one of those incredibly thorough and conscientious economic historians. She dives deep into the sources and finds new ways of measuring,” says Kerstin Enflo, adding:
“On top of that, she is an extremely modern labour economist, working with methods that truly are econometrically advanced. Other researchers within both labour economics and economic history have the greatest respect for her. That is very impressive, and it also means that her research has a broad impact. Precisely this interdisciplinary quality and thinking outside the box on methods and explanations, around sex differences and gender – make for an explosive trident. Personally, I am really impressed by that,” Kerstin Enflo concludes.
Read more: Lund honorary doctor receives the 2023 Prize in Economic sciences
