The three economists “have demonstrated how important public institutions are to the well-being of a country,” the Nobel Committee of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday.
“Societies with weak rule of law and institutions that exploit citizens do not generate growth or positive change. The laureates’ research helps us understand why,” the committee emphasized.
“One of the biggest challenges of our time is to reduce the huge income differences between countries. The laureates have proven the importance of public institutions in achieving this goal,” said committee chairman Jakobs Svensons.
He added that the research of these scientists allowed “a much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed.”
Adzemoglu, a dual citizen of Turkey and the United States, and Johnson, a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States, work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Robinson, a British citizen, conducts research at the University of Chicago.
Last year, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to the American economist Claudia Goldin for research that helped to understand the role of women in the labor market
The winners of this year’s Nobel Prizes in Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Literature, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize, were announced last week.