著名劳动经济学家明塞尔(Jacob Mincer)于2006年8月20日与世长辞，享年84岁。

With deep regret IZA announces that Jacob Mincer (Professor Emeritus of Economics at Columbia University, New York), one of the most influential economists of modern time, has passed away on August 20 at the age of 84. Jacob Mincer was the founding father of modern empirical labor economics and the inaugural recipient of the IZA Prize in Labor Economics which honored "the life-time achievement of an outstanding scholar and pioneer in labor market research."

Jacob Mincer was born in 1922 in Poland. After escaping the Holocaust, he emigrated to the United States in 1948. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he remained for most of his career before gaining emeritus status.

Mincer’s efforts in developing the scientific instruments and methods used by today's economists to analyze the problems and prospects of the working world are almost unparalleled. His seminal work highlighted the importance of nurturing human potential and explored the interplay of education, technological progress and earnings. He demonstrated how life-long learning served the best interests of both employees and the organizations that employed them. Mincer’s work on women in the workforce and job turnover also remains at the center of modern economic thought. His human capital model is one of the fundamental instruments in today’s empirical economics.

IZA Director Klaus F. Zimmermann praised Jacob Mincer and his large influence on generations of labor economists worldwide: "As the leading institute in labor economics IZA is very grateful for Jacob Mincer’s continuous support and inspiration. We will cherish him and his fundamental contributions in memory."