Lars Peter Hansen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lars Peter Hansen
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Lars Peter Hansen (2013)
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| Born | October 26, 1952 |
| Nationality | American |
| Institution | University of Chicago Carnegie Mellon University |
| Field | Macroeconomics |
| School or tradition |
Chicago School of Economics |
| Alma mater | University of Minnesota (Ph.D.) Utah State University (B.Sc.) |
| Doctoral advisor |
Christopher A. Sims |
| Doctoral students |
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| Influences | Thomas J. Sargent, Christopher A. Sims |
| Contributions | Generalized method of moments, robust control applied to macroeconomics and asset pricing |
| Awards | Frisch Medal (with Kenneth J. Singleton), 1984 Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics, 2006 CME Group-MSRI Prize, 2008 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, 2010 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, 2013 |
| Information at IDEAS / RePEc | |
Lars Peter Hansen was born on October 26, 1952, in Urbana, Illinois. He is an American economist and a professor at the University of Chicago. In 2013, he won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.
Hansen is famous for creating a special math tool called the generalized method of moments. This tool helps economists understand how different parts of the economy work together. He also studies how the financial world connects with the larger economy. His work helps us understand how to value investments and deal with long-term economic uncertainty.
In 2010, he received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award. This award recognized his important work in economics, finance, and management.
Contents
About Lars Peter Hansen
Lars Peter Hansen studied at Utah State University, where he earned a degree in Mathematics and Political Science in 1974. He then went to the University of Minnesota and received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1978.
After finishing his studies, he worked as a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. In 1981, he moved to the University of Chicago. Today, he is a distinguished professor there, teaching economics and statistics.
Hansen is married to Grace Tsiang. Her father, Sho-Chieh Tsiang, was also a well-known economist. Lars and Grace have one son named Peter. Lars also has two brothers: Ted Howard Hansen, who studies the body's immune system, and Roger Hansen, an engineer who works with water resources. His father, Roger Gaurth Hansen, was a biochemistry professor and a leader at Utah State University.
His Economic Discoveries
Hansen is best known for developing the generalized method of moments (GMM). This is a powerful statistical tool used in econometrics, which is like using math to study economic data.
GMM helps economists analyze complex economic models. It's especially useful when it's hard to fully describe every detail of an economic situation. Hansen showed how to use "moment conditions" to create reliable ways to estimate economic values. This method is widely used in many fields, including finance and macroeconomics.
Hansen also worked with other economists like Kenneth J. Singleton and Ravi Jagannathan. They used GMM to study how assets (like stocks or bonds) are valued. With Ravi Jagannathan, he developed the Hansen–Jagannathan bound. This helps explain why risky investments sometimes offer higher returns than expected. This is known as the equity premium puzzle.
With economist Thomas J. Sargent, Hansen wrote a book called Robustness. This book explores how to make economic models strong and reliable, even when economists are not completely sure about how decisions will affect outcomes.
Hansen has also focused on the difference between risk and uncertainty. Risk is when you know the chances of something happening. Uncertainty is when you don't even know the possible outcomes or their chances. He also studies "systemic risk," which is the risk that a problem in one part of the financial system could cause a collapse of the entire system. He often talks about how important it is to consider uncertainty when making economic policies.
Important Groups and Awards
Hansen has been involved with many important economic groups. He was the first director of the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics. He also leads the Macro Finance Research Program there.
He works with economist Andrew Lo to lead the Macro Financial Modeling Group. This group helps economists create better models to understand how the financial world affects the real economy. This work became very important after the 2008 financial crisis.
Hansen is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and the American Finance Association. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He used to be the president of the Econometrics Society.
He has received many awards for his work:
- In 1984, he won the Frisch Medal with Kenneth Singleton.
- In 2006, he received the Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics.
- In 2008, he won the CME Group-MSRI Prize for his use of statistical methods in economics.
- In 2011, he was given the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for helping us understand how people deal with risky and changing economic situations.
- He has also received honorary degrees from Utah State University and Colby College.
Nobel Memorial Prize
On October 14, 2013, Lars Peter Hansen, along with Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller, won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. They received the award for their work on understanding how asset prices behave. Hansen's Nobel lecture was titled "Uncertainty Inside and Outside Economic Models."
Fun Fact
Lars Peter Hansen's favorite pie is pumpkin pie!
Selected Writings
- Hansen, L.P. and J. Borovička, "Term Structure of Uncertainty in the Macroeconomy," in "Handbook of Macroeconomics," Vol. 2, Part 2., eds. J.B. Taylor, H. Uhlig., December 2016.
- Hansen, L.P., J. Borovička and J. Scheinkman "Misspecified Recovery," Journal of Finance, March 2016.
- Hansen, L.P. and Sargent, T.J. Uncertainty Within Economic Models. World Scientific Publishing 2014.
- Hansen, L.P. "Uncertainty Inside and Outside Economic Models" (Nobel Lecture)
- Hansen, L.P. and Sargent, T.J. Recursive Models of Dynamic Linear Economies. Princeton University Press 2013.
- Hansen, L.P. and Sargent, T.J. Robustness Princeton University Press 2007.
- Hansen, L.P. "Challenges in Identifying and Measuring Systemic Risk," in Brunnermeier, M.K. and Krishnamurthy, A.: Risk Topography: Systemic Risk and Macro Modeling, September 2012.
- Hansen, L.P. "Generalized Methods of Moments: A Time Series Perspective," in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavior Sciences, 2000.
- Hansen, L.P., (1982), "Large Sample Properties of Generalized Methods of Moments Estimators" in Econometrica, Vol. 50, page 1029-1054, where he proposed the GMM-procedure.
- Hansen, L.P., Sargent, T.J., (2008). Robustness. Princeton University Press.
- Hansen, L.P., Sargent, T.J., (2013). "Recursive Models of Dynamic Linear Economies." Princeton University Press.
See also
In Spanish: Lars Peter Hansen para niños
