Nobel Prize in economics awarded to Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson

American economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in economics for their contributions to auction theory, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday.

The prize for economics is officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. It was established by Sweden's central bank and has been awarded since 1969 in memory of industrialist Alfred Nobel.

In 2019, the economics prize was awarded to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their work to alleviate global poverty.

Duflo, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was the youngest person and only the second woman to be awarded the prize.

Last week, the World Food Programme was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and its "contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas."