Andreu Mas-Colell, emeritus professor at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) and emeritus research professor of the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE), as well as president of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST), received the Alexandre Pedrós 2025 award in recognition of his academic and institutional career in the fields of economics and public policies.

The award ceremony, convened by the Societat Econòmica Barcelonesa d’Amics del País, took place  in the afternoon of 20 May at the Macaya Palace of the “la Caixa” Foundation. It was presided over by Miquel Roca i Junyent, president of Amics del País, together with Alícia Romero, minister of Economy and Finance of the Government of Catalonia. They presented a portrait in oil by the prestigious painter Perico Pastor to the UPF emeritus professor.

Andreu Mas-Colell: “The economy is not a zero-sum game (only Trump plays by such rules) and prosperity is only possible through cooperation”

Andreu Mas-Colell recalled that “the economy is not a zero-sum game (only Trump plays by such rules) and prosperity is only possible through cooperation”. He took advantage of his intervention to uphold Europe, talent and public-private collaboration as engines of economic and social development. He added that “ours can only be an open economy, with its head looking to the world and its feet in El Born. Barcelona must project itself as a European capital and influence matters ranging from agriculture to technology and innovation”.

Alícia Romero, meanwhile, stressed that “we would not be the country we are without his talent, modesty and generosity, since Andreu Mas-Colell laid the foundations for the powerful research ecosystem we have in Catalonia. Now we owe it to him to continue his work”.

Miquel Roca i Junyent highlighted the great academic and personal career of professor Andreu Mas-Colell, “one of social return from the world of economics and public policies from which we have all benefited as a society”.

The UPF full professor of Economics and chair of the jury, Guillem López Casasnovas, gave the laudatio in which he defined Mas-Colell as “one of the great economists of today, the most international of our nation’s economists”.

Recognition signalling a new era for the Alexandre Pedrós award

With the event held on 20 May, the Alexandre Pedrós award (granted since a decade ago in memory of the outstanding economist and professor of Applied Economics at the University of Barcelona, ​​and an active member of Amics del País) is embarking on a new stage: the jury wished, for the first time, to distinguish a prominent personality for their entire career in the field of economics and public policies. This new modality comes in addition to the traditional categories that acknowledge the best works submitted at the Encuentro de Economía Pública (Meeting on Public Economics) and to the journal Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics.