Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson, esteemed academics based in the United States, have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their groundbreaking studies on how institutions are formed and their impact on prosperity, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, which is the final Nobel Prize to be awarded this year, carries a value of 11 million Swedish crowns (approximately $1.1 million).
“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time’s greatest challenges. The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,” said Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.
He noted the critical role that effective institutions play in fostering economic growth and equity.
The award organizers further elaborated on their findings, stating, “Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better.”
This highlights the significance of strong institutional frameworks in promoting economic development.
Acemoglu and Johnson are affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Robinson teaches at the University of Chicago.
Their recent collaboration, a book surveying the evolution of technology, illustrates how certain technological advances has been more successful in creating jobs and distributing wealth than others.
The economics prize, first awarded in 1901, is not one of the original categories established by Alfred Nobel’s will but was added later in 1968, funded by Sweden’s central bank.
Past winners of the economics prize include notable figures such as Milton Friedman and John Nash, the latter of whom was portrayed by Russell Crowe in the 2001 film “A Beautiful Mind.”
More recently, Harvard economic historian Claudia Goldin received the award last year for her research on wage and labor market inequality between men and women.
Boluwatife Enome
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