Which economist was the first Black person to win the Nobel Prize in Economics?

Arthur Lewis was the first Black person to win the Nobel Prize in Economics, receiving it in 1979.

Lewis shared the award with Theodore Schultz for pioneering research into economic development, particularly the problems faced by developing countries. His work examined how economies move from traditional, labor-intensive production toward modern industrial development.

One of his best-known ideas is the Lewis model, which describes a developing economy with a traditional rural sector and a modern industrial sector. Surplus labor can move from agriculture into industry, helping fuel economic growth until the surplus is absorbed.

Lewis was born in Saint Lucia, then a British colony, and later became a leading scholar at Princeton University. The award is sometimes described imprecisely as honoring only industrialization; the committee cited the broader field of development economics.