Acemoglu wins Clark Medal
By Sarah H. Wright, News Office

i-Newswire.com
2005-04-28

Professor Daron Acemoglu of the Department of Economics has received
the prestigious John Bates Clark Medal, awarded every two years to
an American economist under the age of 40 for making a significant
contribution to economic thought and knowledge.

The Clark Medal, eminent in its own right, has proven a predictor of
future Nobel laureates: Of the 29 Clark medalists, 11 have gone on
to win the Nobel.

The American Economic Association, which presents the medal,
cited Acemoglu for his “valuable contributions to several distinct
fields, starting with labor economics and successively moving to
macroeconomics, institutional economics and political economy.”

Acemoglu, 37, has most recently focused on the role of political
institutions in economic development. His current work explores the
links among political structure, legal and market institutions, and
a nation’s long-run rate of economic growth. It takes into account
the differing effects of institutions established by colonial powers
in North America, South America and Africa on economic development
in countries in those regions.

Acemoglu received the B.A. degree from the University of York, U.K.,
and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees at the London School of Economics. He
came to MIT in 1993, was promoted to full professor in 2000 and was
named the Charles P. Kindleberger Professor of Applied Economics
in 2004.

Acemoglu is the fifth member of the present Economics Department to
receive the Clark Medal. The first was Paul A. Samuelson, Institute
Professor Emeritus, who received the award in 1947. Professor Samuelson
and Institute Professor Robert M. Solow, who won in 1961, both received
Nobel prizes. The Clark Medal was awarded to Professor Jerry A. Hausman
in 1985 and to professor emeritus Franklin M. Fisher in 1973.

A version of this article appeared in the April 27, 2005 issue of
MIT Tech Talk (Volume 49, Number 25).