The Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded on Monday to Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu and British-Americans Simon Johnson and James Robinson for their research on wealth inequality between nations.
The jury said that by examining the different political and economic systems introduced by European colonists, the three had been able to demonstrate the relationship between institutions and prosperity.
“Reducing the huge income gaps between countries is one of the greatest challenges of our time,” Jacob Svensson, chair of the Economic Sciences Prize committee, said in a statement.
“The award winners have demonstrated the importance of social institutions in achieving this,” Svensson said.
Acemoglu, 57, like Johnson, 61, is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Robinson, 64, is a professor at the University of Chicago.
The jury highlighted the work of the award winners and how social institutions play a role in explaining why some countries are prosperous while others are not.
“I’m very happy. It’s a real shock and amazing news,” Acemoglu told reporters via telephone at the award announcement in Stockholm.
The Economics Prize is the only Nobel Prize not created among the original five prizes created in the will of Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.
Instead it was created in 1968 through a donation from the Swedish central bank, leading opponents to dub it the “false Nobel”.
However, like other Nobel Science Prizes, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decides the winner and follows the same selection process.
The economics prize concludes this year’s Nobel season, with the physics and chemistry prizes honoring achievements in artificial intelligence, while the peace prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese group committed to fighting nuclear weapons. .
South Korea’s Han Kan won the literature prize – the only female laureate so far this year – while the medicine prize praised discoveries in understanding gene regulation.
The Nobel Prize consists of a diploma, a gold medal and a sum of one million dollars.
They will be presented at ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of scientist and prize creator Alfred Nobel.
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