About two decades before joining the University of Chicago, Professor James A. Robinson was a young researcher exploring global prosperity creation. Although economists appreciated his early theoretical work, Robinson sought deeper understanding.
“Talking about these differences between countries and looking at their development wasn’t enough,” Robinson said. “I felt I needed to know much more about the politics, the institutions—about how things worked.”
Robinson began traveling globally to conduct research in countries like Colombia, Bolivia, and Botswana, focusing on economic and political institutions' roles in national prosperity. This journey culminated in a Nobel Prize this fall for groundbreaking research with collaborators Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson from MIT on the role of institutions in global inequality.
“I always tell people that for us, being an academic is not a profession. It’s a calling, like being a priest or an artist,” Robinson said.
Robinson and his fellow laureates will receive the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel on December 10 in Sweden. He will also deliver a lecture reflecting on his influential research on prosperous and poor nations.
“In Western development economics,” Robinson noted, “we’ve completely mischaracterized many of the problems in the world because we fail to understand the ways in which other societies differ from our own society.”
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognized them for insights into why vast differences in prosperity exist between nations. They showed that where European colonizers introduced exploitative institutions, nations are poorer; where they established inclusive systems with accessible opportunities and effective law enforcement, nations became prosperous.
Ethan Bueno de Mesquita from UChicago praised their research as agenda-setting across multiple fields. Robinson's work reaches a broad audience through books like "Why Nations Fail" (2012) and "The Narrow Corridor" (2019).
Robinson recounted early milestones that propelled his work with Acemoglu: recognizing colonial institutions' crucial role over geography for prosperity and incorporating Simon Johnson's data skills.
In Africa, particularly Nigeria, Robinson expanded his scope beyond Colombia since 1994. His visit to Botswana marked significant progress in 1998.
Estéfano Rubio highlighted how their research informs discussions by entities like the World Bank on development policies.
Rubio remarked that Robinson and colleagues were pioneers in explaining institutional effectiveness across countries.
Robinson’s collaboration with Acemoglu started when he was challenged during a lecture at London School of Economics by Acemoglu himself—a dynamic leading to fruitful collaboration characterized by mutual intellectual respect.
Acemoglu praised Robinson’s curiosity and knowledge thirst while acknowledging their friendship interwoven with collaboration.
Robinson emphasized holistic thinking about comparative economics as part of their legacy while acknowledging unchanged dynamics of institutional impacts on prosperity despite ongoing discussions around political conditions for inclusive economic structures.
He expressed concern over populism challenging institutional relationships but remains hopeful based on historical resilience seen in places like the U.S., stating: “We’re living through a moment which is a little frightening for me as a citizen.”
At an October UChicago news conference announcing the Nobel Prize win, Robinson advised young researchers to view topics from studied populations’ perspectives: “It’s really all about the question…and trying to find the right kind of question.”