The 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics, or officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was awarded to French economist Jean Tirole "for his analysis of market power and regulation," announced the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Monday.

When answering questions during phone interviews, Tirole said he was "so moved" upon being awarded this year's economics prize.

Commenting on international banking industry regulations, Tirole told Xinhua that governments "have to do more," especially in terms of liquidity control.

But he also emphasized that such regulations "have to be light enough so as not to thwart entrepreneurship" and that governments should "intervene only when necessary."

Being "one of the most influential economists of our time," Jean Tirole "has made important theoretical research contributions in a number of areas, but most of all, he has clarified how to understand and regulate industries with a few powerful firms," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its statement.

According to the statement, "the best regulation or competition policy should be carefully adapted to every industry's specific conditions." Tirole has, in a series of articles and books, presented a general framework for designing such policies and applied it to a number of industries, ranging from telecommunications to banking.

Drawing on these new insights, governments can better encourage powerful firms to become more productive while preventing them from harming competitors and customers, the statement said.

Jean Tirole was born in France in 1953. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1981 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. He is now the scientific director at Institut d'Économie Industrielle at the Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse 1 Capitole University in France.

The economics prize, established in 1968, is the last of the six prizes announced this year. The prize amount is SEK 8 million (about 1.1 million US dollars). (1 SEK = 0.14 US dollars)