Philippe Aghion, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Philippe Aghion is the Kurt Björklund Chaired Professor in Innovation and Growth at INSEAD, professor at Collège de France and visiting professor at the London School of Economics.
Professor Aghion was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences – the Nobel Prize in Economics – with Professor Peter Howitt, Brown University and Professor Joel Mokyr, Northwestern University.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognised the trio’s groundbreaking work for explaining innovation-driven economic growth. Professors Aghion and Howitt were joint winners for their influential theory of sustainable growth through creative destruction.
Illustration: Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach
Celebrating Professor Philippe Aghion at INSEAD
At a special gathering to recognise Professor Aghion, his INSEAD colleagues spoke about his brilliance, his intellectual energy and his contagious enthusiasm.
Explore reflections from our faculty on how his work continues to shape the future of economics, and watch the moments we captured of his return to campus.
First Reactions
“Peter, Peter, make yourself available, your phone, they’re trying to reach you!”
Listen to Philippe Aghion telling Peter Howitt that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has been attempting to call him, captured as part of this call made shortly after the public announcement of their joint 2025 economic sciences prize. In this conversation with the Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith he also reveals his joy and surprise at the news, discusses the implications of their ‘creative destruction’ model of sustained economic growth, and suggests paths to ensuring that the fruits of growth can be more widely shared.
First reactions | Philippe Aghion, Nobel Prize in economic sciences 2025 | Telephone interview
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In Philippe Aghion's Own Words
The main idea is that long-run growth is driven by cumulative innovations. Second idea – innovations result from entrepreneurial activities, aim at getting innovation runs. The third idea is creative destruction, new innovation displaces old technology. There is a contradiction at the heart, of course, because yesterday’s innovators may use their runs to prevent subsequent innovations, managing the market economies to deal with this contradiction.
-Philippe Aghion speaking to Nobel Prize’s Adam Smith
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