SU congratulates March 2024 honorary doctorate recipient, Prof James Robinson, on winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics.
Robinson shares the Nobel Prize with Prof Daron Acemoglu and Prof Simon Johnson.
The trio has been recognised for their research on how institutions are formed and how they influence economic prosperity.
Robinson, a professor at the University of Chicago, received a Doctor of Commerce (DCom), honoris causa, from SU in March this year. He was acknowledged for advancing the field of quantitative economic history in South Africa and for his commitment to working in the global south and actively collaborating with emerging scholars in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.
In his acceptance speech at SU's graduation ceremony in March, Robinson said: “My collaboration with SU has been important to me personally and intellectually. Now I send my PhD students here as often as I can to work in the institute LEAP (Laboratory for the Economics of Africa's Past). The research at SU is revolutionising the study of the economic history of Africa and I just hope that I can be a part of that and scale it up to the whole continent."
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said this year's laureates in the economic sciences “demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country's prosperity". In its press release, the Academy goes on to say: “The laureates have shown that one explanation for differences in countries' prosperity is the societal institutions that were introduced during colonisation. Inclusive institutions were often introduced in countries that were poor when they were colonised, over time resulting in a generally prosperous population. This is an important reason for why former colonies that were once rich are now poor, and vice versa."
Biographical details of the co-winners:
Daron Acemoglu, born 1967 in Istanbul, Türkiye. PhD 1992 from London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
Simon Johnson, born 1963 in Sheffield, UK. PhD 1989 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
James A. Robinson, born 1960. PhD 1993 from Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Professor at University of Chicago, IL, USA.
Photo : Stefan Els
