Professor Jacob Mincer receives IZA Prize in Labor Economics 2002

Jacob Mincer (Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, New York) has received the first IZA Prize in Labor Economics. IZA Director Klaus F. Zimmermann awarded the Prize at Mincer's home in New York on November 24 during a small celebration with family members, friends, and colleagues. In his laudation, Zimmermann praised Mincer's ground-breaking work and presented him with the IZA Prize Medal 2002 to honor "the lifetime achievement of an outstanding scholar and pioneer in labor market research" (IZA Prize award statement).

In his acceptance speech, Jacob Mincer underscored the role of IZA as an important institutional supporter of international research in labor economics. Read the full text (PDF file), or view Mincer's speech on video (Real Media file 940KB, Windows Media file 2,7 MB)

The decision of the Prize Committee had been announced on July 15, 2002, by IZA Director Klaus F. Zimmermann during a conference held at Columbia University in honor of Jacob Mincer's 80th birthday. View the following documents for more information: IZA Prize Press Release (July 15, 2002) Announcement Speech by Klaus F. Zimmermann Award Statement by the IZA Prize Committee Unofficial Award Certificate Columbia News online article New York Times article

(from left: James J. Heckman, Jacob Mincer, Klaus F. Zimmermann, Gary S. Becker)