James A. Robinson (original) (raw)

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British political scientist and economist (born 1960)

James A. Robinson
Robinson at 2024 Nobel Week
Born 1960 (age 63–64)Chelmsford, Essex, United Kingdom
Citizenship United KingdomAmerican[1][2][_verification needed_]
Awards Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2024)
Academic background
Education London School of Economics (BSc)University of Warwick (MA)Yale University (PhD)
Thesis The dynamic enforcement of implicit labor contracts under asymmetric information (1993)
Doctoral advisor Truman Bewley
Academic work
Discipline Economics
Sub-discipline Economic theory Labor relations
Institutions University of Chicago Harvard University University of California at Berkeley University of Southern California University of Melbourne

James Alan Robinson (born 1960) is a British-American economist and political scientist. He is the Rev. Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies and a University Professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.[3][4] At Harris, he also directs The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts.[5] Robinson previously taught at Harvard University from 2004 to 2015.

With Daron Acemoglu, he is the co-author of several books, including The Narrow Corridor, Why Nations Fail, and Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy.[6] In 2024, Robinson, Acemoglu, and Simon Johnson were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their comparative studies on prosperity between nations.[7]

Robinson received a Bachelor of Science in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1982, a Master of Arts from the University of Warwick in 1986, and a Doctor of Philosophy in economic theory and labor relations from Yale University in 1993.[8][9]

Robinson's main fields of research are in political economy and comparative politics, as well as in economic and political development.[8]

In 2004, Robinson was appointed Associate Professor of Government at Harvard University. He later held named chair positions at Harvard, first as the David Florence Professor of Government (2009–2014) and later as the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government (2014–2015).[10] On 1 July 2015, he was appointed as one of nine University Professors at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies of the University of Chicago.[11] He also holds the title Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies. On 9 May 2016, Professor Robinson was awarded an honorary doctorate by the National University of Mongolia during his first visit to the country.[12]

He has conducted research in countries around the world including Botswana, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Colombia, where he teaches every summer at the University of the Andes in Bogotá.[13]

On 17 March 2023, James Robinson met with students, scientists, leaders of social opinion, and representatives of finance, economy, and business circles in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In an interview, Robinson discussed the construction of inclusive institutions in authoritarian countries, the challenging development of countries post-colonialism, the "mistakes" made consciously,[14] and answered questions regarding the "King of Cotton" section on Uzbekistan in his book Why Nations Fail.

He has collaborated extensively with long-time co-author Daron Acemoglu after meeting at the London School of Economics.[15]

Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy

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Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (2006), co-authored by Robinson with Daron Acemoglu analyzes the creation and consolidation of democratic societies. They argue that "democracy consolidates when elites do not have a strong incentive to overthrow it. These processes depend on (1) the strength of civil society, (2) the structure of political institutions, (3) the nature of political and economic crises, (4) the level of economic inequality, (5) the structure of the economy, and (6) the form and extent of globalization."[16]

In Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (2012), Acemoglu and Robinson argue that economic growth at the forefront of technology requires political stability, which the Mayan civilization (to name only one) did not have,[17] and creative destruction. The latter cannot occur without institutional restraints on the granting of monopoly and oligopoly rights. They say that the Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain, because the English Bill of Rights 1689 created such restraints. For example, a steamboat built in 1705 by Denis Papin was demolished by a boatmen guild in Münden, Germany. Papin went to London, where several of his papers were published by the Royal Society. Thomas Newcomen extended Papin's work into a steam engines in 1712, and became a commercial success, while Papin died in 1713 and was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.[18]

Acemoglu and Robinson insist that "development differences across countries are exclusively due to differences in political and economic institutions, and reject other theories that attribute some of the differences to culture, weather, geography or lack of knowledge about the best policies and practices."[19] For example, "Soviet Russia generated rapid growth as it caught up rapidly with some of the advanced technologies in the world [but] was running out of steam by the 1970s" because of a lack of creative destruction.[20]

The Narrow Corridor

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Robinson lecturing at 2024 Nobel Week

In The Narrow Corridor. States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty (2019), Acemoglu and Robinson argue that a free society is attained when the power of the state and of society evolved in rough balance.[21]

A critique of modernization theory

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Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, in their article "Income and Democracy" (2008) show that even though there is a strong cross-country correlation between income and democracy, once one controls for country fixed effects and removes the association between income per capita and various measures of democracy, there is "no causal effect of income on democracy."[22] In "Non-Modernization" (2022), they further argue that modernization theory cannot account for various paths of political development "because it posits a link between economics and politics that is not conditional on institutions and culture and that presumes a definite endpoint—for example, an 'end of history'."[23]

  1. ^ "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024". Nobel Foundation. 14 October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Trio of professors win Nobel economics prize for work on post-colonial wealth". The Guardian. 14 October 2024.
  3. ^ "James Robinson Named Faculty Director of The Pearson Institute". UChicago News. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  4. ^ "James Robinson | Harris Public Policy". harris.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  5. ^ "The Pearson Institute Leadership". Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  7. ^ "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2024". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  8. ^ a b "CURRICULUM VITAE – James A. Robinson" (PDF). University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  9. ^ "The dynamic enforcement of implicit labor contracts under asymmetric information – ProQuest". www.proquest.com. ProQuest 304093687. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  11. ^ "James Robinson Appointed University Professor at Chicago Harris". Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Mongolian Economy – Жеймс Робинсон: Институци гэдэг барилга барьж, түүнийгээ хүмүүсээр дүүргэнэ гэсэн үг биш". Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  13. ^ "World Bank Live Featured Speaker". Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  14. ^ kunu.uz. ""Transition to democracy is not easy" – Interview with James Robinson". Kun.uz. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  15. ^ "IMF Profile: Daron Acemoglu" (PDF). Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  16. ^ "Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy". Cambridge University Press.
  17. ^ e.g., p. 143
  18. ^ esp. pp. 202–203.
  19. ^ Radelet, Steven (12 October 2012). "Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson". United States Agency for International Development. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017.
  20. ^ p. 150.
  21. ^ Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty. New York: Penguin, 2019.
  22. ^ Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, James A. Robinson, and Pierre Yared, "Income and Democracy." American Economic Review 98(3) 2008: 808–42.
  23. ^ Acemoglu, Daron; Robinson, James (2022). "Non-Modernization: Power–Culture Trajectories and the Dynamics of Political Institutions". Annual Review of Political Science. 25: 323–339. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-051120-103913.