Two Americans have won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their work on how to smooth boom-and-bust cycles to limit unemployment and inflation.

The work of Robert E. Hall of Stanford University and Michael Woodford of Columbia University has enabled central banks and governments to be “better equipped to deal with shocks in the economy, such as energy crises or sudden changes in how much households consume,” John Hassler, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said in a news release.