Premi internacional Antoni Calvó Armengol

The Prize

The prize was created in 2008, to honour the memory of the young Andorran economist, Antoni Calvó Armengol, who died in 2007 at the age of 37. Mr Calvó was a professor at Barcelona Autonomous University (UAB) and the Barcelona School of Economics, and made major scientific contributions to the field of social economics.

The Calvó Armengol International Prize is awarded every two years by the Government of Andorra and the Barcelona School of Economics, to a researcher in economics or other social sciences, up to the age of 40, for contributions to the understanding of social structures and their implications in economic interactions. The winner receives €30,000 and recognition for their exceptional scientific achievements.

IX CALVÓ ARMENGOL INTERNATIONAL PRIZE (2025-2026)

The ninth Calvó Armengol International Prize was awarded to Dr. Johannes Stroebel, David S. Loeb Professor of Finance at the New York University Stern School of Business. He holds a degree from Oxford University and a PhD in Economics from Stanford University. Previously, he received the Fischer Black Prize from the American Finance Association, a Sloan Research Fellowship and a Carnegie Fellowship.

Dr. Stroebel has made pathbreaking contributions to our understanding of how social networks, beliefs and interactions shape economic and financial results. A central theme of his work demonstrates how social connections influence personal expectations and decisions. One of his most important contributions is the creation and publication of the Social Connectedness Index, a widely-used measure of social connectedness between geographic areas, based on Facebook data. This dataset has become a standard tool in network research and enabled new studies on themes such as investment behaviour, trade flows, urban infrastructures and the geographic spread of disease. In recent works, Stroebel has used social network data to study the integration of Syrian refugees in Germany, showing that social results differ drastically between places and are shaped by the dynamics of local networks rather than the fixed characteristics of the immigrants or locals.

The jury this year consisted of professors Antonio Cabrales (Carlos III University, Madrid), Melissa Dell (Harvard University), Benjamin Golub (Northwestern University) and Joan Llull (Institute for Economic Analysis (CSIC) and Barcelona School of Economics).

The award ceremony

On 9 June 2026, the head of the Andorran government, Xavier Espot, and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE), Teresa Garcia-Milà, presented the IX Calvó Armengol International Prize to Professor Johannes Stroebel, in a ceremony held at the Congress Centre in Andorra la Vella.

After speeches by the institutions, Dr. Stroebel gave a lecture on Social and Economic Connectedness.

The researcher presented some of the main strands of his research, centred on so-called “economic connectedness”, a concept that analyses how far people on different socioeconomic levels – risk, poverty – share networks and friendships or whether, in contrast, they live in socially segregated environments.

According to the studies, societies where rich and poor people have social ties show higher degrees of economic mobility. In other words, young people growing up in families with fewer resources have greater opportunities to improve their economic situation over the course of their lives.

To analyse these dynamics, Stroebel created the Social Connectedness Index (SCI), a database formulated from connections between users on Facebook that enables measurement of the social ties between territories. This tool has become a baseline for researchers around the world, enabling in-depth study of issues as diverse as trade flows, investment decisions, town planning or the spread of disease.

Access to the lecture summary

Lecture by Johannes Stroebel, winner of the IX Calvó Armengol International Prize, during the ceremony held in Andorra

Antoni Calvó Armengol was born in 1970 in Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra. He was a student of the Lycée Comte de Foix. He then studied an Engineering degree in Paris, at the École Polytechnique (1992) and at the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (1994) and a Higher Civil Engineering degree at the Universidad Politécnica in Madrid (1994). Later, in 2000, he studied a PhD in Economics at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées within the framework of the European Doctoral Programme.

The curriculum vitae of Antoni Calvó Armengol illustrates his dynamism in the field of social economy as a professor and as a prolific and innovative researcher, both in France, Spain and the Anglo-Saxon world.

In later years, he worked as a professor at the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. Despite other opportunities, he always wanted this to be the headquarters of his international academic career.

His work as editor and advisor of the main scientific journals in both Europe and North America depict the impact of his academic contributions and the recognition he achieved in the field of social economy.

In this sense, it is worth highlighting the Young Economist Award that was awarded to him by the European Economics Association in 1999.

The Barcelona School of Economics, describes Antoni Calvó Armengol as a researcher “widely regarded as one of the main theorists of his generation, known for his work on social networks. He left behind a large number of articles that have had a great impact in the field, including research on social networks and employment markets that demonstrate how job patterns and wages can be explained through the exchange of employment information on social networks”. As an example of this legacy, the extensive by Antoni Calvó Armengol bibliography (at the end of this website) has been collected by the National Library of Andorra and completed in collaboration with the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE). The collection contains his works in chronological order to illustrate the origin and evolution of the researcher’s thoughts throughout his career.

On his website, Antoni Calvó Armengol shared his academic work in progress (research, publications, lessons), but also included elements to make Andorra known to the world. Within the framework of the publications on Andorra the article “La Crema: A Case Study in Mutual Fire Insurance” stands out, which he wrote for a prestigious American journal in which he researched the viability of this traditional fire insurance mechanism.

As an expression of his personal ethics, Antoni Calvó Armengol also added on his website, a selection of quotations from the Manual Digest (one of the first publications of the history, government and customs of Andorra), as well as other reflections that defined his way of thinking: On declining standards.

With the aim of serving his country, Antoni Calvó Armengol represented the Principality of Andorra as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Portuguese Republic (from 27 June 2001 to 18 July 2007) and to the Helvetic Confederation (from 25 January 2006 until his death), and as a permanent representative at the United National Office and other international organisations in Geneva (from July 2007 until his death).

Antoni Calvó Armengol died suddenly in 2007, at the age of 37.

The originality and impact of his legacy is reflected in an emotional obituary written on 6 November 2007 by Andreu Mas-Colell and Salvador Barbera, both lecturers of the Barcelona School of Economics and economic professors at the Universitat Autònoma in Barcelona and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra: “Antoni Calvó, a brilliant researcher”.

We will quote an extract: “As a citizen of a small but open nation, he was able to use the best of all the countries and traditions that influenced him. The French influence led him to discover literature that was relatively unknown to other economists, his engineering training was completed with a wide range of references in sociology and philosophy, all of which contributed in the wise choice of his research topics. He made the study of social networks and their economic role his own personal project, that allowed him to use his special interests and capabilities, thus becoming one of the most important authors in one of today’s most popular fields of research. Toni was a highly esteemed teacher. Aware of the importance of teaching students, he successfully and happily managed a growing number of doctoral theses, and was already setting a precedent. His presence attracted researchers and co-authors from around the world. The academic future of economy in Barcelona and Spain will not be the same without him. His absence will be sorely felt for many years, although his friends and colleagues will keep his spirit and memory alive.”

Open call 2025

The Ninth Calvó-Armengol International Prize (2025) has been awarded. The next Open call will take place in 2027

2025 Calvó-Armengol Prize goes to Johannes Stroebel

Johannes Stroebel is the David S. Loeb Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University (NYU). He received his PhD in Economics from Stanford University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford. He is a recipient of the Fischer Black Prize from the American Finance Association, a Sloan Research Fellowship, and a Carnegie Fellowship.

The Calvó-Armengol Prize Selection Committee chose Professor Stroebel for his pioneering contributions to our understanding of how social connections, beliefs, and interactions shape economic and financial outcomes.

More information

The award ceremony will take place in June 2026.

Awards previously granted

VIII Calvó Armengol International Prize (2024): Benjamin Moll
A macroeconomist whose research is based on understanding the inequalities within and between countries. His work pursues two main areas of research: why some countries are much poorer than others and how huge disparities in income and wealth impact the macroeconomy and macroeconomic policy.
Lecture by Benjamin Moll, winner of the VIII Calvó Armengol International Prize, during the ceremony held in Andorra
VII Calvó Armengol International Prize (2022): Stefanie Stantcheva
Professor of Economics at Harvard University and founder of the Social Economic Lab. Her work centres on the study of public policies in the economy, the work economy, macroeconomics and industrial organisation. Research focusses on two major areas: the long-term dynamic effects of tax policy and the social economy, enabling interpretation of how people view economic policies based on specific social phenomena.
Lecture by Stefanie Stantcheva, winner of the VII Calvó Armengol International Prize, during the ceremony held in Andorra
VI Calvó Armengol International Prize (2020): Benjamin Golub, affiliated to Harvard University at the time of the award.
V Calvó Armengol International Prize (2018): Melissa Dell, affiliated to Harvard University at the time of the award.
IV Calvó Armengol International Prize (2016): Matthew Gentzkow, affiliated to Stanford University at the time of the award.
III Calvó Armengol International Prize (2014): Raj Chetty, affiliated to Harvard University at the time of the award.
II Calvó Armengol International Prize (2012): Roland Fryer, affiliated to Harvard University at the time of the award.
I Calvó Armengol International Prize (2010): Esther Dulfo, Economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the time of the award. The first winner of this prize, she was then awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2020, becoming the youngest person and second woman to receive it.