British-Americans Simon Johnson and James Robinson, as well as Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu, were given the Nobel Prize in Economics on Monday for their studies on international wealth disparity.
The three have shown a connection between society structures and success by analysing the diverse political and economic systems brought about by European colonists, the jury stated.
Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences Jakob Svensson stated in a statement that “one of our time’s greatest challenges is reducing the vast differences in income between countries.”
“The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,” Svensson added.
Acemoglu, 57, is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as is Johnson, 61.
Robinson, 64, is a professor at the University of Chicago.
The jury emphasised the laureates’ contributions to shedding light on the ways in which societal structures contribute to the explanation of why certain nations flourish while others do not.
The panel gave the example of the city of Nogales, which is split by the US-Mexico border and where people on the US side of the city typically have better lives, in a statement announcing the prize.
“The decisive difference is thus not geography or culture, but institutions,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
Residents living north of the border have more options for their education and career because to the US economic system, and because they are a part of the US political system, they have extensive political rights.
In contrast, people living south of the border have different economic circumstances and have less influence over legislation due to the political structure.
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