Amartya Sen received the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics for his contributions to welfare economics.
Sen received the prize for work on welfare economics, including social choice, poverty, famine, and the measurement of living standards. His research emphasized that evaluating an economy requires more than measuring income or total output.
Sen developed influential ideas about capabilities: the real opportunities people have to achieve valuable ways of living. He also studied how poverty and deprivation can be measured and how famines may occur even when a country has enough food overall. His analysis highlighted the importance of access, distribution, and political accountability.
Sen received the 1998 prize alone. He is sometimes grouped with economists who studied inequality, but the Nobel citation specifically recognized welfare economics and his analysis of economic well-being.