Institutions, history, antagonisms, and development: the contributions of Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson

Elias Papaioannou

Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2025, vol. 127, issue 3, 511-575

Abstract: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity”. In this paper, I first review the laureates' work, emphasizing how their big‐picture approach to long‐run development and their broad analytical perspective – blending history, economic theory based on class antagonisms, case studies, and an effort to move beyond correlations towards identifying causal effects – have enriched and transformed the approach of shedding light on the old inquiry into the deep drivers of prosperity. I then discuss in detail the vast subsequent research on the impact and origins of institutions and historical development, which has brought novel insights about the deep drivers of prosperity, testing old influential conjectures and expanding the set of questions. With authoritarianism on the rise and constitutional checks and balances challenged, the lessons from history and the new insights of this research agenda appear more topical than ever.

Date: 2025
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