The Nobel Prize in Economics, which closes the 2024 edition, went this Monday to the Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu and the British-Americans Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for his research on institutions and how they affect the prosperity of nations.
The researchers, all three based in the United States, were awarded “for their studies on how institutions are formed and how they affect prosperity,” the jury said in its statement.
«Reducing the enormous income differences between countries is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The winners showed the importance of institutions to achieve this,” declared Jakob Svensson, president of the Prize Committee in Economic Sciences, quoted in a statement.
By studying the different political and economic systems introduced by European colonizers in large parts of the world, the three academics demonstrated a relationship between institutions and prosperity, the committee stressed.
“Although the poorest countries are getting richer, they are not closing the gap,” Jan Teorell, a member of the committee, declared at a press conference.
«Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson showed that Much of this income gap is due to differences in society’s economic and political institutions.«he added.
Acemoglu, 57, is a professor at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), like Johnson, 61. Robinson, 64, is a professor at the University of Chicago.
«Inclusive systems»
In its justification for the award, the jury took the example of Nogales, divided by the US-Mexico border, where residents on the US side of the city tend to live in better conditions.
“The American economic system offers residents north of the border greater opportunities to choose their education and profession, and they are part of the American political system, which grants them broad political rights,” the jury detailed.
“On the other hand, south of the border, the inhabitants live in other economic conditions and the political system limits their possibilities to influence legislation,” he added.
«The decisive difference is not geography or culture, but institutions»stated the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The jury also stressed that the research of the winners also helps to understand why some countries are trapped in a situation of “low economic growth.”
According to the Academy, the differences between nations could be traced back to the institutions created by colonial powers. “In some colonies, the purpose was to exploit the indigenous population and extract natural resources for the benefit of the colonizers.”
In others, colonial powers “built inclusive political and economic systems” that would “create long-term benefits for all.”
“Surprising and incredible!”
Acemoglu, author of several best sellers, including “Why Countries Fail”, along with Robinson, was one of this year’s favorites.
«I am delighted. “It’s surprising and incredible news!” he told the press by phone after learning the news.
The Nobel Prize in Economics – as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is known, awarded for the first time in 1969 – is the only one of the prizes that was not provided for in the philanthropist’s will.
It was added much later to the five traditional prizes – Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature and Peace -, which has earned it the nickname “false Nobel”.
In 1968, on the occasion of its tercentenary, the central bank of Sweden, the oldest in the world, created an economic sciences prize in memory of Alfred Nobel, and made available to the Nobel Foundation an annual sum equivalent to the amount of the other awards.
Last year, the prize was awarded to the American Claudia Goldinfor her studies on women in the labor market.
The Nobel winners
The Economics prize closes this year’s Nobel season, in which advances in artificial intelligence were distinguished with the Physics and Chemistry prizes.
The best known, The Peace Prize went to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, which brings together survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.“for his efforts in favor of a world without nuclear weapons.”
South Korean Han Kang became the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. She is also the only woman awarded this year.
The one in Medicine awarded findings in the understanding of genetic regulation.
The award is accompanied by a gold medal, a diploma and a check for one million dollars.
They will be awarded in ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of the scientist and creator of the prize, Alfred Nobel.