Jean Tirole, a French academic whose work on how to tame the power of oligopolies has helped change the way companies are regulated, has won a rare solo Nobel Prize for economics.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Mr Tirole was “one of the most influential economists of our time”. His biggest contribution was to clarify “how to understand and regulate industries with a few powerful firms”.
Mr Tirole, one of the founders of the prestigious Toulouse School of Economics, has long been regarded as a likely winner of the prize. The decision to award it to him shows the depth of his influence in creating a new way to look at competition.