Dale T. Mortensen
Nobel-winning economist who pioneered search and matching theory.
Dale Thomas Mortensen (February 2, 1939 – January 9, 2014) was an American economist, a professor at Northwestern University, and a winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was awarded the prize in 2010 jointly with Christopher A. Pissarides and Peter A. Diamond for their analysis of markets with search frictions. Mortensen's research focused on labor economics, macroeconomics, and economic theory, and he is especially known for his pioneering work on the search and matching theory of frictional unemployment. He extended these insights to study labor turnover and reallocation, research and development, and personal relationships.
- born
- February 2, 1939, Enterprise, Oregon
- died
- January 9, 2014, Wilmette, Illinois
- field
- Economics
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Search and matching theory of frictional unemployment
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Mortensen was born in Enterprise, Oregon. He received his BA in economics from Willamette University in 1961 and his PhD in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1967. He had been on the faculty of Northwestern University since 1965 and a professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences at the Kellogg School of Management since 1980. From 2006 to 2010, he was the Niels Bohr Visiting Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Aarhus University. In May 2011, Mortensen was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Willamette University. He was married to Beverly Mortensen, also a Northwestern Professor. Mortensen was a past president of the Society of Economic Dynamics and one of the founding editors of the Review of Economic Dynamics. He died of stage 4 lung cancer on January 9, 2014, at the age of 74, at his home in Wilmette. He was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie. In 2019, Mortensen's family donated his Nobel Prize medal to Northwestern University.
Reader's Guide
Dale T. Mortensen's significance lies in his foundational contributions to search and matching theory, which transformed the understanding of labor markets with frictional unemployment. His work, recognized with the 2010 Nobel Prize, provided a framework for analyzing how job seekers and employers find each other in markets with imperfect information. This theory has been applied beyond labor economics to areas such as research and development and personal relationships. Mortensen's legacy includes his long tenure at Northwestern University, his role in founding the Review of Economic Dynamics, and the naming of the Dale T. Mortensen Building at Aarhus University in February 2011. His research continues to influence economic policy and academic study of unemployment and market dynamics.
Did You Know?
- Mortensen received his BA in economics from Willamette University in 1961 and his PhD in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1967.
- He was the Niels Bohr Visiting Professor at the School of Economics and Management, Aarhus University, from 2006 to 2010.
- In February 2011, a building was named in his honor at Aarhus University: the Dale T. Mortensen Building.
- Mortensen died of stage 4 lung cancer on January 9, 2014, at the age of 74, at his home in Wilmette.
- In 2019, Mortensen's family donated his Nobel Prize medal to Northwestern University.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dale T. Mortensen?
Dale Thomas Mortensen (1939–2014) was an American economist and longtime professor at Northwestern University, widely recognized as a pioneer of search and matching theory in labor markets. He is best remembered for reshaping how economists think about why unemployment persists even when vacancies exist.
What did Dale T. Mortensen win the Nobel Prize for?
In 2010 he shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with Peter A. Diamond and Christopher A. Pissarides for their joint analysis of markets where search frictions matter. Their work gave a rigorous explanation for frictional unemployment and the dynamics of job matching.
What is search and matching theory in Mortensen's framework?
It treats hiring as a two-sided search process in which workers and firms must actively look for compatible partners rather than being paired instantly. This insight explains why unemployment is a natural, ongoing feature of labor markets instead of a temporary glitch.
Where was Dale T. Mortensen born and where did he pass away?
He was born on February 2, 1939, in Enterprise, Oregon, and died on January 9, 2014, in Wilmette, Illinois.
Why is Dale T. Mortensen considered important to economics?
His matching models gave economists a formal, testable language for describing job search, wage bargaining, and the natural rate of unemployment. Virtually every modern labor-economics textbook and many central-bank policy analyses now build on the framework he helped create.
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