News item | 29-03-2023 | 5:30 pm
The Dutch Nobel Prize winner Guido Imbens, together with Minister Dijkgraaf, unveiled his bronze bust in the Hall of Fame of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. In addition, Imbens has been appointed Commander in the Order of the Netherlands Lion and received the ribbon from Minister Dijkgraaf. Imbens received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2021, along with his colleagues Joshua Angrist and David Card. They received the prize for their pioneering contributions to the development of methods for causality analysis in econometrics.
Nobel Prize-winning research
Imbens has made an important contribution to the development of so-called “instrumental variable” methods that allow researchers to determine whether a given factor (e.g., taking a particular drug) actually has a causal effect on an outcome (e.g., curing a disease). ). This method uses natural experimentation, using an “tool” (such as a genetic variant) as a kind of randomization of treatment.
This method has led to important breakthroughs in econometrics and has found applications in various fields such as healthcare, the labor market, the education sector and development economics. It has enabled researchers to more accurately determine which interventions are effective and has thus contributed to evidence-based policy development.
Thus, the work of Imbens, Angrist and Card has had a major impact on economics and wider society, and their Nobel Prize recognizes the important contributions they have made to the field of econometrics.
Hall of fame and decoration
With the unveiling of the bronze statue by Guido Imbens, the total number of heads has risen to 18. The statue of Imbens was made by artist Efrat Zehavi who was also present at the unveiling. In addition to unveiling the statue, Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf, on behalf of the King, presented Imbens with the decorations that come with the title ‘Commander in the Order of the Dutch Lion’.