The Nobel economics prize was awarded Monday to American Claudia Goldin, a professor at Harvard University, for advancing understanding of the gender gap in the labour market.

Professor Goldin is only the third woman to win the prize, which was announced by Hans Ellegren, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in Stockholm.

"Understanding women's role in the labour market is important for society. Thanks to Claudia Goldin's groundbreaking research, we now know much more about the underlying factors and which barriers may need to be addressed in the future," said Jakob Svensson, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.

Professor Goldin does not offer solutions, but her research allows policymakers to tackle the entrenched problem, said Randi Hjalmarsson, a member of the prize committee.

"She explains the source of the gap, and how it's changed over time and how it varies with the stage of development," Professor Hjalmarsson said.

"It's a complicated policy question, because if you don't know the underlying reason, a certain policy won't work.

Professor Goldin, 77, said she was "surprised and very, very glad," to have received the award.

It follows the official Nobel Prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace that were announced last week.

The economics award was created in 1968 by Sweden's central bank, and is formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Last year's winners were former US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, Douglas W Diamond and Philip Dybvig for their research into bank failures that helped shape America's aggressive response to the 2007-08 financial crisis.

Only two of the 92 economics laureates honoured have been women.

AP