1. The Rybczynski Prize will be £5,000, awarded to the author whose entry is judged the best by the Council.

2. Eligibility for entry: All SPE members are entitled to submit. Non-member economists from the UK and Europe are also entitled to enter.

3. The judges will be looking for high quality writing on an important real world economic issue which merits wide attention among professional economists. The style of the piece should make it accessible and interesting to an economically literate business audience. Please note that the Judging Panel mark ‘blind’,  ie. all entries are anonymised before sending on to the Judges.

4. The Prize will be decided by the SPE Council with assistance from specialist readers where appropriate. The Council’s decision is final. The Council has the right not to award a prize if it judges that no entry is of adequate standard.

5. The winner of the Rybczynski Prize will be published, or republished with accreditation to the original publisher, on the SPE website. A synopsis maybe published in the SPE Newsletter. The SPE reserves the right to reproduce the short-listed entries at its discretion.

6. The Prize will be awarded at the 2026 SPE Annual Dinner on 22 September 2026. The author(s) of the final shortlisted entries will be invited to the dinner as guests of the SPE.

7, Entries must be in English and in typed or printed form. They should not include any branding that will indicate where they originate from. The Judges mark all essays ‘blind’.

8. The preferred length is 3000 words with a maximum length of 4000 words. Charts and tables are welcome but extensive use of algebra or footnotes is discouraged.

9. AI rules:

• AI tools may be used for purposes of improving grammar, spellchecking and readability, and for researching the topic.
• But the submittted essay must be original work - AI-generated text cannot be included in your submission

10. The work may already be published or be original. Specially written shortened versions of longer works will be considered solely on their own merits.

11. Entries should not have been published before 1 January 2025, i.e. this is a prize for work written and/or published between the start of calendar year 2026 and the closing date of the competition.

12. Only one entry per author is accepted. The winner of last year’s Prize will not be eligible this year (but will be in future years).

13. Joint authorship is accepted and the prize will be divided equally.

14. Entries must be received by the SPE by 1 July 2026 to the email office@spe.org.uk . The SPE will issue a receipt for each entry. This alone will be taken as proof of entry.

15. All entries must be accompanied by an entry form. Please click on Download below.

16. By completing this entry form the author(s) confirm(s) that the SPE may reproduce (including by electronic means) the article in the event it is shortlisted/is a winning entry.

17. The Council reserves the right to waive any of the above rules if it deems appropriate.

18. The Prize is not open to members of the SPE Council or their close relatives.