Mokyr, 79, won one half of the prize for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. Aghion, 69, and Howitt, 79, shared the other half for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction, it added. John Hassler, chair of the prize committee, told reporters their work answered questions about how technological innovation drives growth and how sustained growth can be maintained. During almost all of humankind’s history, living standards did not change noticeably from generation to generation. Economic growth was, on average, zero, and stagnation was the norm, Hassler said. But over the last two centuries things have been very different.