Robert C. Merton
Robert C. Merton received the 1997 prize in Economic Sciences. This profile brings together the official award record and attributed background on the economist’s work and career.
Personal and professional profile
- Name
- Robert C. Merton [1]
- Full name
- Robert C. Merton [2]
- Birth date
- 1944-07-31 [2]
- Birthplace
- New York, NY, USA [2]
- Education
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology; California Institute of Technology; Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science [3]
- Fields / occupation
- economist; university teacher [3]
- Prize
- Economic Sciences · 1997 [2]
- Research recognized
- for a new method to determine the value of derivatives [2]
- Prize share
- 1/2 [2]
- Affiliation at the award
- Harvard University [2]
- Institutions in career record
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Harvard University; Long-Term Capital Management; MIT Sloan School of Management; Dimensional Fund Advisors [3]
Research, education and career background
Robert Cox Merton (born July 31, 1944) is an American economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureate, and professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to continuous-time finance, particularly the first continuous-time option pricing model, the Black–Scholes–Merton model. [4]
In 1997, Merton and Myron Scholes were jointly awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for developing a method to determine the value of derivative securities. [4]
Merton was on the board of directors of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM), a highly leveraged hedge fund that collapsed in 1998, wiping out most of the value paid in by the investors, and requiring a $3.6 billion bailout from a group of 14 banks, in a deal brokered and put together by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [4]
Merton's current research focus is on the topics of lifecycle investing and retirement funding, measuring and monitoring systemic risks in macrofinance, and financial innovation coupled with changing dynamics in financial institutions. [4]
Selected introductory text by Wikipedia contributors — Robert C. Merton, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Official facts are cited separately.
Award and academic affiliation
The official Nobel record dates the Economic Sciences award to 1997 and lists Harvard University as the affiliation at the time. [2]
An affiliation attached to an award describes that point in the person’s career; it does not establish a current appointment. [2]
Education and career timeline
Source-supported connections
Frequently asked questions
When did Robert C. Merton receive the prize in Economic Sciences?
The official award record gives the year as 1997. [2]
Which institution was Robert C. Merton affiliated with at the time of the Economic Sciences award?
Harvard University. This is the award-time affiliation. [2]
Robert C. Merton connection map
Select a node to inspect the relationship and source.
Links retain their source-specific meaning. Award-time affiliations and links to related reading are not claims about current appointments or economic causation.
Sources and review dates
- Nobel Prize — official biography and award record ↗
- Nobel Prize — official biography and award record ↗
- Wikidata background facts (CC0) ↗
- Wikipedia contributors — Robert C. Merton (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗
Reviewed 23 October 2026. Historical dates and award-time affiliations retain their original context. A review date is not an event date. Background sources are identified separately from official records.