KATHMANDU, April 22: Parag Pathak, an economics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) born to Nepali emigrant parents, has been awarded the John Bates Clark Medal. The award is given annually by the American Economic Association (AEA) to the best American economist under the age of 40 for his or her "contribution to economic thought and knowledge”.
Thirty-seven-year-old Pathak, a noted name in market design, was honored with the prestigious award in recognition of his work on market design and education policy.
Announcing 2018 recipient of the award, the AEA in a statement said that "Pathak's work has led to significant improvement in the assignment of students to public schools."
Parag Pathak wins ‘John Bates Clark Medal’
"Using innovative and sophisticated empirical and theoretical techniques, he has provided policy advice that has already positively influenced the lives of over 1 million public school students," reads the statement issued on Friday.
His studies in Boston provided partial evidence that charter schools boosted educational attainment and have been central in the debate on expanding access to the schools, the AEA said.
"The studies also add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that urban charter schools have the potential to generate impressive achievements, especially for minority students living in high-poverty areas," the association said.
Previous recipients of the award include the late Nobel laureate Milton Friedman and New York Times columnist and City University of New York professor Paul Krugman. An analysis of the Bloomberg shows that recipients of the medal have almost a one-in-three chance of eventually winning the Nobel Prize in economics.
