Nobel economics prize awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson & James A Robinson
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A Robinson have been awarded the Nobel prize in economics "for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity," the The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced.
The Nobel Committee praised the trio for explaining why “societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better.”
Jakob Svensson, chair of the economics prize committee, said: "Reducing the huge differences in income between countries is one of our times greatest challenges, thanks to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson's groundbreaking research, we have a much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed."
In their 2012 book Why Nations Fail, Acemoglu, a Turkish-American professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Robinson, a British professor at the University of Chicago, argue that some nations are wealthier than others because of their political and economic institutions.
The richest 20 per cent of the world’s countries are now around 30 times richer than the poorest 20 per cent. The income gap between the richest and poorest countries is also persistent; although the poorest countries have become richer, they are not catching up with the most… pic.twitter.com/FIh56HB9Lk
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 14, 2024
Daron Acemoglu was born 1967 in Istanbul, Turkey and has a PhD from London School of Economics and Political Science. He is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Simon Johnson, born 1963 in Sheffield, UK has a PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a professor at the same university.
James A Robinson, born 1960 has a PhD from Yale University and is a professor at University of Chicago.
The award is formally known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Instituted by the Swedish central bank in 1968, the award was created to honour Alfred Nobel, best known for his invention of dynamite and establishment of the five Nobel Prizes.
The inaugural laureates of this award were Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen, who received the prize in 1969 for their pioneering contributions to the development of econometric models. Over the years, the prize has evolved into a cornerstone of economic scholarship, reflecting significant advancements in the field.
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Last year, Claudia Goldin, a professor at Harvard University, was awarded the prize for her groundbreaking research on gender disparities in the workforce. Goldin’s work shed light on the reasons behind the lower employment rates of women compared to men globally, as well as the wage gaps that persist even when women are employed.
She was only the third woman among the 93 economists who have received the award since its inception.
Despite the ongoing debate among Nobel purists regarding the economics prize's status — some assert it is not a "true" Nobel Prize — it is traditionally presented alongside the other Nobel honours on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel’s passing in 1896.
The youngest person to be awarded the prize was Esther Duflo, at the age of 46. Leonid Hurwicz was the oldest, at 90 years old.
This past week, the latest Nobel laureates in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, and peace were announced. The economics prize is always the last to be given out and, like all other nobel prizes, is worth 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.1m).
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