James A. Robinson

Institute Director of The Pearson Institute; Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor and University Professor; Harris School of Public Policy and Department of Political Science, University of Chicago; Recipient of the 2024 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel

Publications

The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution

Citation Acemoglu, Daron, Davide Cantoni, Simon Johnson, and James A Robinson. 2011. “The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution”. American Economic Review 101:3286-3307. Download (PDF) The Consequences of Radical Refrom: The French Revolution

The Myth of the Frontier

Citation García-Jimeno, Camilo, and James A Robinson. 2011. “The Myth of the Frontier”. in Understanding Long-Run Economic Growth. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Download (PDF) The Myth of the Frontier

Africa’s Development in Historical Perspective

Citation 2014. Africa's Development in Historical Perspective. edited by Akyeampong, Emmanuel,  Robert H. Bates, Nathan Nunn, and James A. Robinson. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Abstract This edited volume addresses the root causes of...

The Role of Elites in Economic Development

Citation 2012. The Role of Elites in Economic Development. edited by Amsden, Alice H.,  Alisa DiCaprio, and James A. Robinson. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Abstract Elites have a disproportionate impact on development outcomes. While a country's...

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

Citation 2012. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty. by Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. New York, NY: Crown. Abstract This book is about the huge differences in incomes and standards of living that separate the rich countries...

Natural Experiments of History

Citation 2010. Natural Experiments of History. edited by James A Robinson and Diamond, Jared. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Abstract We propose a general equilibrium model where the economic organization of agriculture and the political...

Why is Africa Poor?

Citation Acemoglu, Daron, and James A Robinson. 2010. “Why is Africa Poor?”. Economic History of Developing Regions 25:21-50. Download (PDF) Why is Africa Poor? Abstract In this paper we take for granted that the poverty of Sub-Saharan Africa is to a large part...

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? Civilian Control over the Military

Citation Besley, Timothy, and James A Robinson. 2010. “Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? Civilian Control over the Military”. Journal of the European Economic Association 8:655–663. Download (PDF) Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? Civilian Control over the Military Abstract...