Daron Acemoglu

Daron Acemoglu
Born	Kamer Daron Acemoğlu 3 9, 1967
Birthplace	Istanbul, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish, American
Occupation	Economist, academic
Title	Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known for	Institutional economics, Why Nations Fail, research on political economy and economic development
Education	London School of Economics (MSc, PhD)
Spouse(s)	Asu Ozdaglar
Awards	John Bates Clark Medal (2005), Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2024)
Website	[Official MIT page Official site]

Kamer Daron Acemoğlu (born September 3, 1967) is a Turkish-American economist of Armenian descent who has been a member of the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 1993. He holds the title of Institute Professor, the highest faculty honor at MIT, to which he was appointed in 2019. Acemoglu's research spans political economy, development economics, economic growth, and labor economics, with a particular focus on the role of institutions in shaping the economic trajectories of nations. His work, often conducted in collaboration with Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson, has examined why some countries prosper while others remain in poverty, emphasizing the critical importance of inclusive political and economic institutions. In 2005, Acemoglu received the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to the American economist under forty judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. In 2024, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, jointly with Johnson and Robinson, for their comparative studies examining how institutions influence national prosperity. In 2015, he was identified as the most cited economist of the preceding decade according to Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) data.

Early Life

Daron Acemoglu was born Kamer Daron Acemoğlu on September 3, 1967, in Istanbul, Turkey, to a family of Armenian heritage. He grew up in Turkey as a member of the country's Armenian community. His first name, Daron, and his surname, Acemoğlu, reflect the intersection of his Armenian and Turkish cultural background. His upbringing in Istanbul — a city characterized by its diverse ethnic and religious communities — provided an early context for the questions about institutions, inequality, and political organization that would later define his academic career.

Acemoglu's Armenian identity has been a subject he has addressed publicly on several occasions. The Armenian-language press, including publications such as Jamanak and Asbarez, has documented his connection to the Armenian community and his acknowledgment of his heritage. Reports in the Armenian media have noted him as one of the most prominent academics of Armenian descent in the world, particularly following his receipt of major economics awards.

Growing up in Turkey during a period of significant political and economic change, Acemoglu was exposed to the kinds of institutional dynamics — including questions of democratic governance, ethnic minority rights, and uneven economic development — that would later form the core of his scholarly inquiry. His experience as a member of a minority community within Turkey may have contributed to his academic interest in how political institutions shape economic outcomes and social inclusion.

Education

Acemoglu pursued his undergraduate education at the University of York in England, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently moved to the London School of Economics (LSE) for his graduate studies, earning a Master of Science degree before completing his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1992. His doctoral dissertation, titled Essays in Microfoundations of Macroeconomics: Contracts and Macroeconomic Performance, was supervised by Kevin W. S. Roberts.

The LSE provided Acemoglu with training in both microeconomic theory and macroeconomics, and his dissertation work on the microfoundations of macroeconomic phenomena — particularly the role of contracts in shaping aggregate economic performance — laid the groundwork for his subsequent research on institutional economics. His time at the LSE placed him within an intellectual tradition that emphasized the importance of rigorous theoretical and empirical analysis of economic institutions and their effects on growth and development.

Career

Early Academic Career at MIT

Upon completing his doctorate in 1992, Acemoglu joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993, where he has remained throughout his career. His appointment at MIT at the age of twenty-five marked the beginning of what would become one of the most prolific careers in modern economics. He rose through the academic ranks at MIT, eventually being named the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics. In 2019, he was elevated to the rank of Institute Professor, the highest honor bestowed upon a faculty member at MIT, recognizing what the institution considers exceptional distinction by a combination of leadership, accomplishment, and service.

Research on Institutions and Economic Development

Acemoglu's most influential body of work concerns the role of political and economic institutions in determining why some nations are wealthy while others remain poor. Working frequently with co-authors Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson, Acemoglu developed a theoretical and empirical framework arguing that inclusive institutions — those that distribute political power broadly and provide economic opportunities to a wide segment of the population — are the primary driver of long-term economic prosperity. Conversely, extractive institutions, which concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a small elite, tend to produce economic stagnation and poverty.

This research program drew on historical case studies, natural experiments, and econometric analysis. One of the most cited contributions from this body of work examined the colonial origins of comparative development, arguing that the types of institutions established by European colonial powers — whether settler colonies with inclusive institutions or extractive colonies designed to exploit resources — had persistent effects on economic development that lasted long after the colonial period ended.

The ideas developed in this research program were synthesized in the 2012 book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, co-authored with Robinson. The book presented their institutional theory of economic development for a general audience and generated substantial public discussion about the causes of global inequality. In a 2014 essay published in The New York Times, themes from this work were explored in the context of the relationship between capitalism and democracy.

In a 2025 interview with Yascha Mounk, Acemoglu discussed how states succeed and why many fail, elaborating on the themes of his institutional research and applying them to contemporary challenges including the trajectory of China.

Research on Technology, Automation, and Artificial Intelligence

In addition to his work on institutions, Acemoglu has conducted extensive research on technology, automation, and labor markets. His scholarship in this area examines how technological change affects employment, wages, and inequality, with a particular focus on the distributional consequences of automation.

In more recent years, Acemoglu has turned significant attention to artificial intelligence and its implications for the economy and society. His research and public commentary have emphasized that AI's effects on productivity and employment are not predetermined but depend on the choices made by firms, policymakers, and society. He has argued that AI development should be directed toward complementing human workers rather than simply replacing them.

In a 2023 article co-authored with Simon Johnson for the International Monetary Fund's Finance & Development publication, Acemoglu argued that the drive toward automation through AI is perilous and that supporting shared prosperity requires AI systems designed to complement workers rather than substitute for them.

In a February 2026 episode of MIT Sloan Management Review's podcast Me, Myself, and AI, Acemoglu discussed his view that AI is not currently improving productivity in the manner often claimed by technology advocates. Also in February 2026, Acemoglu co-authored a piece with David Autor and Simon Johnson for the Brookings Institution exploring the concept of "pro-worker AI" and how it could be built.

In an interview with Fortune in February 2026, Acemoglu warned that AI-driven job displacement, if unmanaged, could jeopardize democratic institutions in the United States, connecting his concerns about technology to his broader research on the relationship between economic conditions and political stability.

Commentary on Democracy and Political Institutions

Acemoglu has also been an active public commentator on issues related to democracy, authoritarianism, and the health of political institutions. His academic research on the conditions under which democracies emerge, consolidate, or collapse has informed his analysis of contemporary political developments.

In January 2026, Acemoglu authored an article for Bloomberg in which he offered what he described as a "unified theory" of the presidency of Donald Trump, arguing that a common thread running from tariff policy to foreign policy actions was the expansion of presidential power. Also in January 2026, he wrote for Project Syndicate on the future of the international "rules-based order," arguing that international relations would need to be rebuilt on new philosophical and institutional foundations.

Influence and Citation Impact

Acemoglu's scholarly output has had a substantial impact on the economics profession as measured by citation metrics. In 2015, he was identified as the most cited economist of the preceding ten years according to data from Research Papers in Economics (RePEc). According to the Open Syllabus Project, Acemoglu is the third most frequently cited author on college syllabi for economics courses, behind N. Gregory Mankiw and Paul Krugman.

A 2011 survey among American economists ranked Acemoglu third in a list of "Favorite Living Economists Under Age 60," behind Krugman and Mankiw.

Acemoglu has been described by the Armenian newspaper Agos as one of the ten most important economists in the world.

Personal Life

Acemoglu is married to Asu Ozdaglar, who is a professor and serves on the faculty at MIT, where she has held leadership positions in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The couple's shared affiliation with MIT places them among a small number of prominent academic couples at the institution.

Acemoglu holds dual Turkish and American citizenship. He is of Armenian descent and has maintained connections to the Armenian community, as documented in coverage by Armenian-language media outlets including Jamanak, Asbarez, and Azatutyun (the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).

His intellectual approach has been characterized as centrist, with a focus on institutions, poverty, and econometrics rather than adherence to a particular ideological school of economics. His school of thought is associated with new institutional economics, which emphasizes the role of social and legal norms and rules in shaping economic behavior and outcomes.

Recognition

John Bates Clark Medal

In 2005, Acemoglu received the John Bates Clark Medal, which is awarded by the American Economic Association to the American economist under the age of forty who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. The award recognized his contributions across multiple fields of economics, including political economy, development economics, and labor economics.

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

In 2024, Acemoglu was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, jointly with Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognized the three economists for their comparative studies examining how institutions influence the prosperity of nations. The Nobel committee cited their work demonstrating that differences in economic institutions are a fundamental explanation for why some countries are rich and others poor, and that these institutional differences often have historical roots in the colonial period.

In an interview recorded during Nobel Week in Stockholm in December 2024, Acemoglu discussed his research and its implications for understanding global inequality and the conditions for sustained economic growth.

Other Recognition

Acemoglu's status as the most cited economist over a ten-year period, as measured by RePEc in 2015, represented an unusual level of influence across the discipline. His placement on the Open Syllabus Project's ranking of the most frequently assigned authors in economics courses further reflected the breadth of his impact on economics education.

The Armenian Weekly, covering his receipt of the most-cited economist distinction in 2015, noted that his recognition highlighted the achievements of the Armenian diaspora in the global academic community.

Legacy

Acemoglu's body of work has contributed to a fundamental shift in how economists and social scientists understand the relationship between political institutions and economic outcomes. His research, particularly the work conducted with Robinson and Johnson on the institutional origins of comparative development, has become a central reference point in development economics and political economy. The argument that inclusive institutions are a prerequisite for sustained economic growth has influenced both academic debate and policy discussions at international organizations.

The publication of Why Nations Fail brought these academic ideas to a broader audience and stimulated public debate about the causes of poverty and the conditions necessary for economic development. The book's institutional framework offered an alternative to explanations of global inequality based primarily on geography, culture, or the availability of natural resources.

Acemoglu's more recent work on artificial intelligence and automation has positioned him as a leading voice in debates about the economic and social consequences of technological change. His emphasis on the importance of directing technological development toward complementing rather than replacing human labor has contributed to a growing literature on the governance of AI and its distributional effects. His collaboration with David Autor and Simon Johnson on the concept of "pro-worker AI" represents an effort to translate academic research into actionable policy recommendations.

His public commentary on democratic institutions and political developments, including his analyses of trends toward authoritarianism and the concentration of executive power, has extended the reach of his academic research into contemporary political discourse. By connecting his institutional framework to current events, Acemoglu has demonstrated the applicability of his scholarly work to ongoing challenges facing democratic societies.

As of 2026, Acemoglu continues to hold the position of Institute Professor at MIT, where he remains active in research, teaching, and public engagement on issues at the intersection of economics, technology, and politics.