Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A Robinson “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”.
"They have helped us understand differences in prosperity between nations," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a press release on Monday (14 October).
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson – have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity.
Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better. The laureates’ research helps us understand why.
"When Europeans colonised large parts of the globe, the institutions in those societies changed. This was sometimes dramatic but did not occur in the same way everywhere. In some places the aim was to exploit the indigenous population and extract resources for the colonisers’ benefit. In others, the colonisers formed inclusive political and economic systems for the long-term benefit of European migrants," the Nobel committee added.
"The laureates have shown that one explanation for differences in countries’ prosperity is the societal institutions that were introduced during colonisation. Inclusive institutions were often introduced in countries that were poor when they were colonised, over time resulting in a generally prosperous population. This is an important reason for why former colonies that were once rich are now poor, and vice versa," it further said.
The introduction of inclusive institutions would create long-term benefits for everyone, but extractive institutions provide short-term gains for the people in power.
Daron Acemoglu was born in 1967 in Istanbul, Türkiye. He did his PhD 1992 from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. He is currently a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
Simon Johnson was born in 1963 in Sheffield, UK, did PhD 1989 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA and currently is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
James A Robinson was born in 1960, he completed his PhD 1993 from Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Currently he is a professor at University of Chicago, IL, USA.
