James Robinson

Robinson shared the prize with Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson for studies of how institutions are formed and how they affect prosperity. Their research emphasizes that inclusive political and economic institutions tend to support broader development than extractive ones.

Why Nations Fail, written by Robinson and Daron Acemoglu and published in 2012, argues that differences in institutions are a major cause of long-run prosperity or poverty. It contrasts inclusive systems that distribute opportunity broadly with extractive systems designed to benefit narrow elites.

Their reversal-of-fortune argument observes that some relatively prosperous regions before European colonization later became comparatively poor. They argue that colonizers often installed more extractive institutions in densely settled or wealthy territories, producing persistent consequences.

Why Nations Fail focuses broadly on how inclusive and extractive institutions shape national prosperity. The Narrow Corridor, written with Acemoglu and published in 2019, concentrates on liberty as a balance between a capable state and a society strong enough to restrain it.