Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality

Kathmandu: The Nobel Prize in economics was awarded on Monday to Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu and British-Americans Simon Johnson and James Robinson for research into wealth inequality between nations.

By examining the various political and economic systems introduced by European colonisers, the three have demonstrated a relationship between societal institutions and prosperity, the jury said.

‘Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time’s greatest challenges,’ Jakob Svensson, chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said in a statement. ‘The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this,’ Svensson added.

Acemoglu (57 years old) and Johnson (61), are professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Robinson, 64, is a professor at the University of Chicago. The jury highlighted the laureates’ work in illuminating how political and economic institutions play a role in explaining why some countries prosper while others do not.

‘Although the poorer countries are, of course, becoming richer, they’re not closing the gap,’ Jan Teorell, a professor of political science and member of the award committee, told a press conference.

‘Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson have shown that a large part of this income gap is due to differences in economic and political institutions in society,’ Teorrell said.

RSS/AFP