Trio Awarded Nobel Economics Prize For Research Into Differences In Prosperity Between Nations

Nobel Laureates Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and James A. Robinson conducts research at the University of Chicago.

Stockholm:The Nobel Memorial Prize in economics has been awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for research into differences in prosperity between nations.

The three economists “have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity,” the Nobel committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

“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,” it added. The announcement was made Monday in Stockholm. The prize amount of 11 million Swedish kronor (Around Rs 8.8 crore) will be shared equally between the laureates.

Acemoglu and Johnson work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Robinson conducts his research at the University of Chicago. "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," the Nobel committee said.

“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,” says Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.

The economics prize is formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The central bank established it in 1968 as a memorial to Nobel, the 19th-century Swedish businessman and chemist who invented dynamite and established the five Nobel Prizes.

Though Nobel purists stress that the Economics Prize is technically not a Nobel Prize, it is always presented together with the others on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896. Nobel honours were announced last week in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace.

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