UK-educated economists scoop Nobel for imperial legacy research

Three UK-educated economists whose work explains how institutions set up by European colonial powers led to income disparities among nations have been awarded the Nobel prize for economics.

Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and James Robinson, from the University of Chicago, were named winners of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences 2024, generally known as the Nobel prize for economics, for “studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”, on 14 October.

Their work has centred on the lasting impact of colonisation on nations’ economic fortunes. Former colonies where inclusive institutions were introduced in countries that were poor when they were colonised have tended to fare much better, while societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better, according to their research.

In 2012, Professors Robinson and Acemoglu published a book titled Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, while their 2006 book is titled Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy.

“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, the chair of the prize committee.

Professor Johnson and Professor Robinson are the UK’s third and fourth Nobel winners this year, after DeepMind founder Sir Demis Hassabis and Geoffrey Hinton, dubbed the “father of AI”, won Nobels last week for chemistry and physics, respectively.

Professor Johnson was born in Sheffield and took his undergraduate degree at the University of Oxford before attending the University of Manchester and then MIT. Professor Robinson attended the London School of Economics, the University of Warwick and Yale University before moving to Harvard University.

Professor Acemoglu is a Turkey-born scholar who gained his undergraduate degree at the University of York before taking a PhD at the LSE, and has been based at MIT since 1993.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com