Istanbul-born MIT professor named world’s most influential economist

ISTANBUL

Economist Daron Acemoğlu, who is a Turkish economist of Armenian descent living in the U.S., has topped the most influential economists list of the Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) for his last 10 years’ of publications. 

Among leading 2,223 leading economists, Acemoğlu, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), topped the list for his works in the last decade. 

RePEc rankings are based on data about authors who have registered with the RePEc Author Service, institutions listed on Economics Departments, Institutes and Research Centers in the World (EDIRC) list, bibliographic data collected by RePEc as well as citation analysis and popularity data compiled, according to RePEC website. 

Acemoğlu is followed by Andre Shleifer from Harvard University, James J. Heckman from University of Chicago and Robert Barro from Harvard University. The former president of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), Ben Bernanke, ranked 25 on the list. 

Acemoğlu’s name has previously been mentioned for the Nobel Prize. Recently, he has been popular because of his book, “Why Nations Fail,” co-authored with James Robinson. 

His works cover a wide range of areas, from income and wage inequality to human capital and training. He wrote a series of papers attempting to disentangle the relationship between strong governmental institutions and economic development. The research revealed laws in rich countries that protect property and limit executive powers contribute to their prosperity.

Acemoğlu’s work has been published in leading scholarly journals, including the American Economic Review and the Journal of Political Economy. He received his BA in economics from the University of York, along with a Master of Science in mathematical economics and econometrics and PhD in economics at the London School of Economics. He has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the inaugural T.W. Schulz Prize, awarded to him for “exceptional work by an economist in early or mid-career.”