Fons Trompenaars
Thinkers50 Hall of Fame | Bestselling Author, Riding the Waves of Culture | Cultural Diversity & Cross-Cultural Management Pioneer
Lars Peter Hansen
2013 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences | David Rockefeller Professor, University of Chicago | Asset Pricing, Risk & Uncertainty
One of the most technically influential economists alive, Lars Peter Hansen won the 2013 Nobel Prize for pioneering empirical methods that transformed how financial markets and macroeconomic risk are analyzed. Creator of the Generalized Method of Moments — now a universal tool in economics — and Director of Chicago's Macro Finance Research Program, his current work applies cutting-edge decision theory to climate risk and long-term uncertainty. Audiences gain rigorous, evidence-grounded frameworks for navigating complexity.
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Lars Peter Hansen biography
Lars Peter Hansen is the 2013 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, honored jointly with Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller for empirical analysis of asset prices. Born in Urbana, Illinois, he earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1978, served on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, and joined the University of Chicago in 1981 — where he has remained ever since. He currently holds the David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professorship in Economics, Statistics, and the Booth School of Business, and serves as Director of the Becker Friedman Institute’s Macro Finance Research Program, one of the most influential applied macroeconomics initiatives in academia.
Nobel economist speaker Lars Peter Hansen is best known for developing the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) — a statistical technique he introduced in a landmark 1982 paper that fundamentally transformed how economists test and estimate complex economic models. Rather than requiring researchers to fully specify how data is generated, GMM allows rigorous empirical analysis of partially specified models, making it a uniquely powerful tool for studying financial markets, asset pricing, and macroeconomic dynamics. The method is now standard across virtually every field of empirical economics and finance, from central banking to investment management to climate policy analysis. For this contribution alone, Hansen’s impact on the practice of economics is difficult to overstate.
Uncertainty, Asset Pricing, and the New Frontier of Climate Economics
Beyond GMM, Hansen’s research sits at the intersection of macroeconomics, finance, and decision theory — particularly around how rational actors price and respond to uncertainty they cannot fully quantify. His work on stochastic discount factors and the equity premium puzzle deepened economists’ understanding of why standard models struggled to account for observed financial market behavior, and his ongoing research explores how uncertainty propagates across investment horizons and shapes the valuation of long-term macroeconomic risk. In recent years, Hansen has applied these tools to some of the most consequential questions in public policy, including how decision-makers should price climate change risk under deep uncertainty — work that has earned attention far beyond academic economics, influencing discussions among central bankers, international institutions, and sustainability-focused investors. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a past president of the Econometric Society, and recipient of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award and the CME Group-MSRI Prize in Innovative Quantitative Applications.
As a speaker, Lars Peter Hansen brings a rare combination of technical authority and intellectual breadth to audiences navigating uncertainty, financial risk, and economic complexity. His talks translate frontier research into decision-relevant insight: how to model and price risk when the system is not fully understood, what asset markets reveal about long-term expectations, and how policymakers and institutions can act wisely under conditions of deep uncertainty — whether in financial markets, climate strategy, or macroeconomic governance. Senior leaders in finance, investment, and economic policy consistently find his keynotes among the most intellectually rigorous and practically applicable of any Nobel laureate on the circuit today.
Lars Peter Hansen Speaking Videos
Uncertainty outside and inside economic models
Nobel Prize Lars Peter Hansen: ‘Consequences of uncertainty’ - HEC Paris Conference
Lars Peter Hansen Keynote Topics
Drawing on decades of research at the frontier of asset pricing and macroeconomic modeling, Hansen examines how financial markets encode information about future uncertainty — and why standard models so often fail to capture it. This keynote offers senior audiences a rigorous but accessible framework for understanding how risk is priced across investment horizons, what stochastic discount factors tell us about long-run expectations, and how investors and institutions can make better decisions when the distribution of future outcomes is itself unknown. Particularly relevant for investment management, central banking, and sovereign wealth fund audiences.
One of Hansen's central research themes is how rational actors should behave when they know their models are simplifications — not just risky, but genuinely uncertain. This keynote translates that frontier work into practical insight for leaders: how to build robustness into economic and financial decision-making, when to trust quantitative models and when to treat them with skepticism, and what governance frameworks allow institutions to act decisively without pretending to certainty they do not have. Directly applicable to risk management, regulatory strategy, and organizational decision-making under ambiguity.
Hansen has applied his expertise in uncertainty economics to one of the defining challenges of our era: how should policymakers price and respond to climate change risk when the underlying systems are complex, the models are imperfect, and the consequences are long-horizon? This keynote presents a rigorous, decision-theoretic approach to climate economics that goes beyond conventional cost-benefit analysis — addressing the social cost of carbon, the valuation of emissions under uncertainty, and what sound climate policy looks like when designed for a world we cannot fully predict. Essential for audiences in sustainability, finance, energy, and public policy.
In this accessible keynote, Hansen traces how the development of rigorous empirical methods — including GMM — fundamentally changed economics from a largely theoretical discipline into one grounded in testable, data-driven inquiry. He reflects on what this revolution revealed about financial markets, asset prices, and macroeconomic dynamics, where the field's models still fall short, and what the next generation of empirical challenges looks like. A compelling choice for academic conferences, executive education programs, and any senior audience interested in how evidence-based thinking reshapes fields under pressure.
FAQs on Booking Lars Peter Hansen
Why Lars Peter Hansen?
Booking Lars Peter Hansen is a statement of intellectual seriousness. As the 2013 Nobel Laureate in Economics and the creator of the Generalized Method of Moments — a statistical framework now used across the entire field of empirical economics — Hansen brings unmatched technical authority to topics that sit at the top of every senior financial and policy leader's agenda: risk, uncertainty, asset pricing, and the long-term consequences of decisions made under incomplete information. What makes him exceptional on stage is his ability to translate genuinely complex econometric and macroeconomic research into clear, decision-relevant frameworks. He is not a popularizer — he is a practitioner who speaks at the level his audience deserves, whether that audience is a central banking conference, a global investment summit, or a policy forum on climate economics. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to explore his availability for your event.
What is the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and why does it matter?
The Generalized Method of Moments, introduced by Lars Peter Hansen in a 1982 paper in Econometrica, is a statistical estimation technique that allows economists to rigorously test and estimate economic models without needing to fully specify the underlying data-generating process. This flexibility was transformative: it enabled researchers to analyze complex financial and macroeconomic models that would have been untestable under more restrictive methods. GMM is now one of the most widely used tools in empirical economics, applied in fields ranging from asset pricing and monetary policy to labor economics and climate finance. The Nobel Committee cited Hansen's development of GMM as a central contribution to his 2013 prize.
What did Lars Peter Hansen win the Nobel Prize for?
Lars Peter Hansen shared the 2013 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences with Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller for their empirical analysis of asset prices. Hansen's specific contribution was the development of the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), a statistical framework that made it possible to rigorously test theories about how asset prices behave over time — including the key finding that existing models could not fully account for the variation in stock prices that Robert Shiller had identified. His method gave the field a new empirical engine that is still in active use today across virtually every domain of economics research.
What topics does economics speaker Lars Peter Hansen cover?
As one of the world's foremost economics speakers, Lars Peter Hansen addresses topics including asset pricing and financial risk, the economics of uncertainty and how to make decisions under it, the linkages between financial markets and the macroeconomy, climate change economics and the social cost of carbon, central banking challenges in uncertain environments, and the foundations of empirical economic modeling. His keynotes are particularly suited to audiences in investment management, financial services, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and senior policy forums. Aurum Speakers Bureau can work with you to tailor his engagement to your event's specific focus — reach out to discuss availability.
How to book Lars Peter Hansen as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Lars Peter Hansen as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Lars Peter Hansen's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Lars Peter Hansen or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Lars Peter Hansen speaking fee?
Lars Peter Hansen speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Lars Peter Hansen to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Lars Peter Hansen.
How can I contact Lars Peter Hansen?
We only work with Lars Peter Hansen on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Lars Peter Hansen and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Lars Peter Hansen speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Lars Peter Hansen for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Lars Peter Hansen for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Lars Peter Hansen is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Lars Peter Hansen for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
