Lars Peter Hansen

Lars Peter Hansen was born on October 26, 1952, in Urbana, Illinois, USA. He grew up in this Midwestern town and later went on to become an influential economist and statistician known for his significant contributions to the field of economics, particularly in measuring the dynamics of asset prices.

Lars Peter Hansen earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1978. His dissertation, supervised by noted economists like Thomas Sargent, laid the groundwork for his future research and innovations in econometrics, setting the stage for his renowned contributions to economic theory and quantitative analysis.

In the early 1980s, Lars Peter Hansen developed the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), a statistical method that became fundamental in the field of econometrics. This method allows economists to estimate parameters in economic models when standard assumptions about data cannot be met, hence facilitating broader and more adaptable econometric analysis.

Lars Peter Hansen joined the University of Chicago in 1988, where he served as a faculty member in the Department of Economics. His work at Chicago has been influential in shaping the academic and research environment in the field of social sciences, particularly through his research and teaching in theoretical and applied econometrics.

Lars Peter Hansen was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal in 1995, an honor given every two years to an American economist under the age of forty who has made significant contributions to economic thought and knowledge. This accolade underscored Hansen's impactful work in economic modeling and econometrics at an early stage in his career.

Lars Peter Hansen was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1999, recognizing his achievements and continuing contributions to the field of economics. This election is one of the highest honors that can be given to a scientist in the United States, confirming Hansen's influence and standing among fellow experts.

Lars Peter Hansen organized and participated in a conference on Risk and Ambiguity in Economics in 2008, bringing together leading economists to discuss advancements and challenges in understanding decision making under uncertainty. This event highlighted Hansen's leadership role in fostering discussions on key economic issues.

Lars Peter Hansen, alongside Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller, was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2013. Hansen was recognized for his work in empirical analysis of asset prices, particularly for developing a statistical method known as the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), which allowed for better understanding and modeling of financial markets.

Following his receipt of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Lars Peter Hansen delivered a Nobel Lecture entitled 'Uncertainty Outside and Inside Economic Models.' In this lecture, he explored the pervasive role of uncertainty in economic theory and practice, discussing how his methodologies and the GMM contribute to understanding market dynamics.

In 2014, Lars Peter Hansen gave a notable lecture on economic uncertainty at the University of Chicago, where he delved into the nature of uncertainty in financial markets and discussed his ongoing research into risk, uncertainty, and economic modeling. This lecture was part of his ongoing work to dissect and better understand the economic and financial systems.