He earned his doctoral degree in economics from MIT in 2000, under the supervision of Nobel laureate Peter Diamond and Romneycare/Obamacare architect Jon Gruber.
[citation needed] Kőszegi is a theoretical economist with an interest in behavioral economics, who has studied, among other topics, temporal utility and addiction.
"[3] Further, while the notion of nudging popularized by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein paints behavioral economists as libertarian paternalists, Kőszegi says that behaviorists are generally afraid of paternalism.
For example, in complex markets that require a high level of research from customers to get a good deal, price caps can be effective both in helping the less well-off and also in boosting competition.
Kőszegi received the award "for his contribution to the theoretical foundations of behavioral economics, and its application to public finance and contract theory.