The US financial economist Robert J. Shiller was honoured on September 30 for his vital contributions to research in the field of financial economics with the Deutsche Bank Prize in Financial Economics 2009. Josef Ackermann, Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee of Deutsche Bank, presented the Deutsche Bank Prize in Financial Economics 2009 award to the highly respected US economist Robert J. Shiller at a symposium in Frankfurt, entitled “Financial Innovation and Economic Crisis”. Shiller received the award, which carries an endowment of EUR 50,000, for his vital contributions to research in the field of financial economics.

“There could probably not be a more appropriate time to honour Professor Robert J. Shiller with the Deutsche Bank Prize in Financial Economics,” said Ackermann. “Shiller has developed instruments to gauge the extent of over-exuberance on capital and property markets. He has also used these instruments to give timely warnings on the risks of such over-exuberance.”

Shiller’s empirical work on asset pricing and related macroeconomic risks is of great academic and practical value. As far back as 2000, at the height of new economy euphoria, he foresaw the market collapse. He also issued an early warning about the pending bursting of the property bubble in the US and the severe financial crisis arising from this development. Shiller also played a major role in developing one of the most important property price indexes in the US, the “Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index”.

“I am really happy about receiving this award because it shows that my work is recognised and, above all, applied not only in academia, but also in practice,” Shiller said.

The laureate

Shiller is Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics at Yale University as well as Professor of Finance at the International Center for Finance of the Yale School of Management. His book Animal Spirits, co-written with Nobel Prize winner George Akerlof, was published in February. In it, he examines the importance of the human factor in the development of financial markets.
The award

The Deutsche Bank Prize in Financial Economics has been awarded biennially by the Center of Financial Studies, in partnership with the Goethe University Frankfurt, since 2005. The award honours internationally renowned economists whose work has significantly influenced research in financial economics, and has led to fundamental advances in theory and practice.

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