Nobel Economists

Economist	Core Contribution	Why Nobel-Grade	Link
Ronald Coase	Theory of the firm (transaction costs)	Defined when firms vs markets are efficient	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_the_Firm
Oliver Williamson	Transaction cost economics (formalized)	Predictive framework for governance structures	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markets_and_Hierarchies
Elinor Ostrom	Governance of commons	Empirical design principles for shared resources	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governing_the_Commons
Paul Romer	Endogenous growth theory	Knowledge as a driver of economic growth	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endogenous_growth_theory
Robert Solow	Growth accounting model	Quantified drivers of economic growth	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solow_model
Leonid Hurwicz	Mechanism design theory	Designing systems for desired outcomes under constraints	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanism_design
Eric Maskin	Implementation theory	Conditions for achieving desired system outcomes	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implementation_theory
Roger Myerson	Incentive-compatible mechanisms	Formalized alignment of incentives	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanism_design
Herbert Simon	Bounded rationality	Realistic model of human decision-making	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounded_rationality
George Akerlof	Information asymmetry	Showed how markets fail with imperfect information	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons
Michael Spence	Signaling theory	How agents communicate hidden information	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signaling_(economics)
Joseph Stiglitz	Screening theory	Market inefficiencies due to information gaps	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screening_(economics)