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MIT economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson PhD ’89, whose work has illuminated the relationship between political systems and economic growth, have been named winners of the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Political scientist James Robinson, with whom they have worked closely, also shares the award.
“Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better,” the Nobel academy stated in its citation. “The laureates’ research helps us understand why.”
“I am delighted. It is a real shock and amazing news,” Acemoglu told the committee by phone at the Nobel announcement.
His long-term research collaboration with Johnson has empirically supported the idea that government institutions that provide individual rights, especially democracies, have spurred greater economic activity over the last 500 years. In a related line of research, Acemoglu has helped build models to account for political changes in many countries.
Acemoglu is an Institute Professor at MIT. He has also made notable contributions to labor economics by examining the relationship between skills and wages, and the effects of automation on employment and growth. Additionally, he has published influential papers on the characteristics of industrial networks and their large-scale implications for economies.
A native of Turkey, Acemoglu received his BA in 1989 from the University of York, in England. He earned his master’s degree in 1990 and his PhD in 1992, both from the London School of Economics. He joined the MIT faculty in 1993 and has remained at the Institute ever since. Acemoglu has authored or co-authored over 120 peer-reviewed papers and published four books. He has also advised over 60 PhD students at MIT.
Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has also written extensively about a broad range of additional topics, including development issues, the finance sector and regulation, fiscal policy, and the ways technology can either enhance or restrict broad prosperity.
A native of England, Johnson received his BA in economics and politics from Oxford University, an MA in economics from the University of Manchester, and his PhD in economics from MIT. From 2007 to 2008, Johnson was chief economist of the International Monetary Fund.
Acemoglu and Johnson are co-authors of the 2023 book “Power and Progress: Our 1,000-Year Struggle over Technology and Prosperity,” in which they examine AI in light of other historical battles for the economic benefits of technological innovation.
Acemoglu’s books include “Why Nations Fail” (2012), with political scientist and co-laureate James Robinson, which synthesized much of his research about political institutions and growth. His book “The Narrow Corridor” (2019), also with Robinson, examined the historical development of rights and liberties in nation-states.
Johnson is also co-author of “13 Bankers” (2010), with James Kwak, an examination of U.S. regulation of the finance sector, and “Jump-Starting America” (2021), co-authored with MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, a call for more investment in scientific research and innovation in the U.S.
Previously, eight people have won the award while serving on the MIT faculty: Paul Samuelson (1970), Franco Modigliani (1985), Robert Solow (1987), Peter Diamond (2010), Bengt Holmström (2016), Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo (2019), and Josh Angrist (2021). Through 2022, 13 MIT alumni have won the Nobel Prize in economics; eight former faculty have also won the award.
