Christopher Pissarides

Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences

Christopher Pissarides

Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences

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Biography

A professor of economics and political science at the London School of Economics and chair of the Republic of Cyprus’ National Economy Council, Christopher Pissarides received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences along with Peter Diamond of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dale Mortensen of Northwestern University for their work on “markets with friction.”

Pissarides specializes in the economics of labor markets and the effects of economic fluctuations, growth, and structural change on employment. He also researches monetary and fiscal policy, especially as they relate to European integration and the problems of the Eurozone. He has written extensively in professional journals and his book Equilibrium Unemployment Theory is an influential reference in the economics of unemployment and has been translated in many languages. Other written works include papers on the economies of Britain, Europe, and other nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Born in Cyprus, Pissarides moved to Britain to study economics at the University of Essex and the London School of Economics. In 2005, he became the first European economist to be awarded the IZA Prize in Labor Economics, which he shared with his American collaborator Dale Mortensen. From 2000 to 2007, he was an external member of the Cyprus Monetary Policy Committee, which successfully saw the introduction of the euro to that country. He has served on the influential European Employment Task Force and has been a consultant on employment policy and other labor issues for the World Bank, the European Commission, the Bank of England, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In 2011, he received the Grand Cross of the Republic of Cyprus, the nation’s highest honor, and served as president of the European Economic Association. Other honors include fellowships with the British Academy, the Academy of Athens, the Academy of Europe, the Econometric Society, the Society of Labor Economists, and others. He is also a lifetime honorary member of the American Economic Association and holds honorary doctorate degrees from several universities, including the University of Essex, the Athens University of Economics, and the University of Cyprus.

Christopher Pissarides has had yearlong visits at Harvard, Princeton, and the University of California-Berkeley. He is currently the Laiki Professor of European Studies at the University of Cyprus and frequently visits the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he holds the title of Helmut and Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large at the Institute of Advanced Studies.