TWO Americans and a British-Cypriot economist won the 2010 Nobel economics prize yesterday for developing a theory that helps explain why many people can remain unemployeddespite a large number of job vacancies.

Federal Reserve board nominee Peter Diamond was honored along with Dale Mortensen and Christopher Pissarides with the 10 million Swedish kronor (US$1.5 million) prize for their analysis of the obstacles that prevent buyers and sellers from efficiently pairing up in markets.

Diamond, a former mentor to current Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, analyzed the foundations of so-called search markets, while Mortensen and Pissarides applied the theory to the labor market.

Their work, dating back to the 1970s and '80s, sheds light on why the classical view of markets, in which prices are set so that buyers and sellers always find each other and all resources are fully utilized, doesn't always apply to the real world.

One example is the housing market, where buyers can struggle to find new homes though there are a number of unsold properties available.

Another is the labor market. Because searching for jobs takes time and resources, it creates friction in the job market, helping explain why there are both job vacancies and employment" target="_blank" title="n.失业；失业人数">unemploymentsimultaneously, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

"The laureates' models help us understand the ways in which employment" target="_blank" title="n.失业；失业人数">unemployment, job vacancies and wages are affected" target="_blank" title="a.做作的；假装的">affected by regulation and economic policy," the citation said.

The resulting work, called the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides model, is frequently used to estimate how employment" target="_blank" title="n.失业；失业人数">unemployment benefits, interest rates, the efficiency of employment agencies and other factors can affect the labor market.

"One conclusion is that more generousemployment" target="_blank" title="n.失业；失业人数">unemployment benefits give rise to higher employment" target="_blank" title="n.失业；失业人数">unemployment and longer search times," the academy said.

Diamond, 70, is an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an authority on Social Security, pensions and taxation.

US President Barack Obama has nominated Diamond to become a member of the Federal Reserve. However, the Senate failed to approve his nomination before lawmakers left to campaign for the midterm congressional elections.

Inner workings

Senate Republicans have objected to what they see as Diamond's limited experience in dissecting the inner workings of the national economy.

Bernanke was one of Diamond's students at MIT. When Bernanke turned in his doctoral dissertation back in 1979, one of the people he thanked was Diamond for being generous with his time and reading and discussing Bernanke's work.

Pissarides, a 62-year-old professor at the London School of Economics, was the first Nobel winner with Cypriot citizenship, academyspokesman Erik Huss said.

Mortensen, 71, is an economics professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He is now a visiting professor at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• federal [´fedərəl] a.联邦的，联邦制的 (初中英语单词)
• analysis [ə´næləsis] n.分解；分析(结果) (初中英语单词)
• available [ə´veiləbəl] a.可用的；有效的 (初中英语单词)
• academy [ə´kædəmi] n.专科学校；学会；协会 (初中英语单词)
• estimate [´estimət, ´estimeit] n.估计；评价 vt.估价 (初中英语单词)
• employment [im´plɔimənt] n.工作；职业；雇用 (初中英语单词)
• affect [ə´fekt] vt.影响；感动；假装 (初中英语单词)
• conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)
• generous [´dʒenərəs] a.慷慨的；丰盛的 (初中英语单词)
• institute [´institju:t] n.学院 vt.建立；设置 (初中英语单词)
• security [si´kjuəriti] n.安全；证券；抵押品 (初中英语单词)
• approve [ə´pru:v] v.赞成；同意；批准 (初中英语单词)
• economy [i´kɔnəmi] n.经济；机制；组织 (初中英语单词)
• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
• illinois [,ili´nɔi] n.伊利诺斯 (初中英语单词)
• so-called [´sou ´kɔ:ld] a.所谓的，号称的 (高中英语单词)
• unemployment [,ʌnim´plɔimənt] n.失业；失业人数 (高中英语单词)
• regulation [,regju´leiʃən] n.规则；章程；法规 (高中英语单词)
• efficiency [i´fiʃənsi] n.效力；效率；有能力 (高中英语单词)
• taxation [tæk´seiʃən] n.征税；税制；税收 (高中英语单词)
• senate [´senit] n.参议院；上院 (高中英语单词)
• nomination [,nɔmi´neiʃən] n.提名(权)；任命(权) (高中英语单词)
• campaign [kæm´pein] n.战役；行动 vi.从军 (高中英语单词)
• limited [´limitid] a.有限(制)的 (高中英语单词)
• denmark [´denmɑ:k] n.丹麦 (高中英语单词)
• economist [i´kɔnəmist] n.经济学家；节俭的人 (英语四级单词)
• economics [i:kə´nɔmiks, i:,-] n.经济学 (英语四级单词)
• unemployed [,ʌnim´plɔid] a.闲着的，失业的 (英语四级单词)
• swedish [´swi:diʃ] a.瑞典人 n.瑞典语 (英语四级单词)
• classical [´klæsikəl] a.经典的；传统的 (英语四级单词)
• friction [´frikʃən] n.摩擦(力)；冲突 (英语四级单词)
• simultaneously [,siməl´teinjəsli] ad.同时，一起 (英语四级单词)
• congressional [kɔŋ´greʃənl] a.会议的；国(议)会的 (英语四级单词)
• winner [´winə] n.胜利者，得奖者 (英语四级单词)
• citizenship [´sitiznʃip] n.公(市)民身分；国籍 (英语四级单词)
• northwestern [,nɔ:θ´westən] a.西北的；自西北的 (英语四级单词)
• efficiently [i´fiʃəntli] ad.有效地；能胜任地 (英语六级单词)
• applied [ə´plaid] a.实用的，应用的 (英语六级单词)
• affected [ə´fektid] a.做作的；假装的 (英语六级单词)
• spokesman [´spəuksmən] n.发言人 (英语六级单词)