John Y. Campbell, Eckstein professor of applied economics, is the recipient of the 1997 Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security.

The award is sponsored by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) and carries a $20,000 cash prize.

Campbell received the award for the publication of The Econometrics of Financial Markets, which he co-authored with Andrew W. Low, professor of finance at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, and A. Craig MacKinlay, professor of finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

The TIAA-CREF's criteria for the award are "clarity of purpose, originality, objectivity, appropriateness and sophistication of technique, and relevance and immediacy of results" said Mark J. Warshawsky, manager of pension and economic research at the TIAA-CREF.

Candidates for the award are nominated by the authors themselves or by colleagues, he said.

The Econometrics of Financial Markets "moves financial research analysis from the qualitative to the quantitative," according to a news release issued by the TIAA-CREF.

"The authors have given investment professionals a practical tool to utilize in actual investment strategies and practices," according to the news release.

"One of the themes of The Econometrics of Financial Markets is that economic theories and statistical methods can be combined to help investors make intelligent choices," Campbell said in the news release. "I am delighted that this aspect of the book has been recognized by the Samuelson Award."

The six-judge panel, which unanimously selected the award winner, included Peter A. Diamond, professor of economics at MIT; Martin J. Gruber, chair of the Finance Department at New York University; James C. Hickman, dean of the Business School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Olivia S. Mitchell, professor of insurance and risk management at the Wharton School; Stephen A. Ross, professor of economics and finance at the Yale University School of Management, and John B. Shoven, dean of humanities and sciences at Stanford University.

The award will be presented on Jan. 4 at the Allied Social Science Association's annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago, according to the news release.