A life in context
The person behind the prize
Robinson received his doctorate at Yale and became a professor at the University of Chicago. His research connects economics with political science and historical comparison. He investigates why the distribution of political power matters for the institutions that govern everyday economic life.
The contribution
Working with Acemoglu and Johnson, he helped explain why institutions can persist even when they hold back development. Political conflict and the difficulty of making credible promises are central to this account.
The idea in plain language
Institutions are the rules and organisations that shape social life: courts, property rights, political representation and limits on power. They influence whether people can invest, cooperate and expect to keep the results of their work.
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