STOCKHOLM (Web Desk) – Scottish economist Angus Deaton has been awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in economic science for his work on consumption, poverty and welfare.
The decision was announced at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm on Monday. Mr Deaton, who is at Princeton University, will receive a cash prize of 8m Swedish kronor (£635,000), the Telegraph reported.
Mr Deacon’s research has concentrated on measuring poverty in the developing world and the determinants of health in rich and poor countries.
The 69-year-old professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University previously taught at Cambridge and Bristol universities.
His research focuses on health, wellbeing, and economic development.
“Mr Deaton’s work has helped transformed the fields of microeconomics, macroeconomics & development economics” said the prize givers.
US economist Tyler Cowen said Mr Deaton was “a brilliant, excellent selection”.
Mr Deaton, who holds both US and British citizenship, taught at the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol, before moving to the US.
The economist said he was “surprised and delighted” when he received the call from Stockholm.
Angus Deaton was born in Edinburgh in 1949 and received his PhD at Cambridge University. The son of a Yorkshire miner who later became a civil engineer, Mr Deaton fulfilled his father’s dream by gaining a scholarship to study at the prestigious Fettes College in Edinburgh aged 13.
