The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024 was awarded jointly to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson "for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity"
They provided an explanation for why some countries are rich and others poor
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2024/10/popular-economicsciencesprize2024.pdf
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2024/10/advanced-economicsciencesprize2024.pdf
They provided an explanation for why some countries are rich and others poor
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2024/10/popular-economicsciencesprize2024.pdf
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2024/10/advanced-economicsciencesprize2024.pdf
An economics Nobel for work on why nations succeed and fail
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/10/14/an-economics-nobel-for-work-on-why-nations-succeed-and-fail
Alex Tabarrok on the extraordinarily prolific Daron Acemoglu:
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/10/acemoglu-johnson-and-robinson-win-nobel-for-institutions-and-prosperity.html
This is not to say that the authors have not also made many technical contributions to economics, most especially Acemoglu. I think of Daron Acemoglu (GS) as the Wilt Chamberlin of economics, an absolute monster of productivity who racks up the papers and the citations at nearly unprecedented rates. According to Google Scholar he has 247,440 citations and an H-index of 175, which means 175 papers each with more than 175 citations. Pause on that for a moment. Daron got his PhD in 1992 so that’s over 5 papers per year which would be tremendous by itself–but we are talking 5 path-breaking, highly-cited papers per year plus many others! (Of course, most written with excellent co-authors). In addition, he’s the author of a massive textbook on economic growth. More than any other economist Daron has pushed the cutting-edge of technical economics and has also written books of deep scholarship still accessible to the public. In his overview of Daron’s work for the John Bates Clark medal Robert Shimer wrote “he can write faster than I can digest his research.” I believe that is true for the profession as a whole. We are all catching-up to Daron Acemoglu.
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2024/10/14/an-economics-nobel-for-work-on-why-nations-succeed-and-fail
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/10/acemoglu-johnson-and-robinson-win-nobel-for-institutions-and-prosperity.html
This is not to say that the authors have not also made many technical contributions to economics, most especially Acemoglu. I think of Daron Acemoglu (GS) as the Wilt Chamberlin of economics, an absolute monster of productivity who racks up the papers and the citations at nearly unprecedented rates. According to Google Scholar he has 247,440 citations and an H-index of 175, which means 175 papers each with more than 175 citations. Pause on that for a moment. Daron got his PhD in 1992 so that’s over 5 papers per year which would be tremendous by itself–but we are talking 5 path-breaking, highly-cited papers per year plus many others! (Of course, most written with excellent co-authors). In addition, he’s the author of a massive textbook on economic growth. More than any other economist Daron has pushed the cutting-edge of technical economics and has also written books of deep scholarship still accessible to the public. In his overview of Daron’s work for the John Bates Clark medal Robert Shimer wrote “he can write faster than I can digest his research.” I believe that is true for the profession as a whole. We are all catching-up to Daron Acemoglu.
Related:
https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2023/02/colonialism-institutions-and-economic.html
https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2015/09/economic-development-history-geography.html
https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2015/12/corruption-and-economic-growth.html
https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2024/01/tech-and-economic-progress-historical.html
https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2023/02/colonialism-institutions-and-economic.html
https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2015/09/economic-development-history-geography.html
https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2015/12/corruption-and-economic-growth.html
https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2024/01/tech-and-economic-progress-historical.html
The Debate Continues - Institutions versus Other Factors:
Why some economists are skeptical of this year’s Nobelists by Dylan Matthews
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/378007/why-some-economists-are-skeptical-of-this-years-nobelists
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/378007/why-some-economists-are-skeptical-of-this-years-nobelists
Beijing’s Success Is a Conundrum for Nobel Winners by Mihir Sharma
Understanding Institutions by Daron Acemoglu
https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/cp161.pdf
Institutions Matter, but Not for Everything: The role of geography and resource endowments in development shouldn’t be underestimated by Jeffrey Sachs
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2003/06/pdf/sachs.pdf
Institutions versus Policies: A Tale of Two Islands by Peter Blair Henry and Conrad Miller
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.99.2.261
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.99.2.261
