Richard Thaler Is The 2017 Winner Of The Nobel Memorial Prize In Economic Sciences

Richard Thaler was awarded over the weekend the 2017 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his "contributions to behavior economics," Business Insider reported.

Thaler, a professor of behavior science and economics at the University of Chicago, took home one of the most prestigious prizes in the field of economics for his contributions to the study of incorporating "psychologically realistic assumptions into analyses of economic decision-making."

In other words, the professor explores the relationship between human psychology and corresponding economic and financial decisions. He has been pushing the theory that "economic agents are human" and can't always be assumed to be rational decision makers.

Thaler co-authored a book with Harvard's Cass R. Sunstein called "Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness." It is among one of the most widely read economic books of recent years, Business Insider added.

The 72-year-old was described by the Nobel Prize academy as being "a pioneer in behavioral economics, a research field in which insights from psychological research are applied to economic decision making."

Thaler will receive a 9 million kroner ($1.1 million) cash prize for his work. Interestingly enough, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was never established in the will of Alfred Nobel, thus the "memorial" distinction from the other five established prizes. The first prize for the field of economics was first handed out in 1969 while Alfred Nobel established the prizes himself in 1895 by signing his last will.