Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor and the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics in MIT’s School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, is the 2023 recipient of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center’s A.SK Social Science Award, probably the most highly endowed international awards within the social sciences.

Acemoglu received the award for “his vastly influential work on, amongst others, the decisive role of institutions in capitalist economies, on the forces of states and societies which must negotiate a balance to be able to ensure liberty, and on the uses and risks of automation.” 

In announcing the award, the international jury praised Acemoglu’s fundamental contributions to labor economics, macroeconomics, and political economy.

“As his research moves across each political science and economics, Daron Acemoglu has develop into a number one expert on the determinants of economic growth,” the international jury wrote.

“I’m incredibly honored and humbled to have been chosen because the recipient of the A.SK Social Science Award,” Acemoglu says. “The WZB has been unwavering in its support for and promotion of high-quality social science, and I consider myself lucky and privileged to have been included of their illustrious roster of previous recipients.”

Acemoglu began teaching at MIT in 1993, and has been honored throughout his distinguished profession for his work in macroeconomics, political economy, labor economics, development economics, and economic theory. Acemoglu co-leads the MIT Shaping the Way forward for Work Initiative, alongside MIT economists Professor David Autor and Professor Simon Johnson.

Earlier this 12 months, Acemoglu published “Power and Progress: Our 1000-12 months Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity,” co-written with Simon Johnson. Acemoglu has warned of the potential social, economic, and political harm of allowing AI to go unregulated.

The A.SK Social Science award is endowed with 100,000 euros. Acemoglu will receive the award at a livestreamed ceremony in Berlin on Nov. 14.

Past recipients of the award include MIT economist Esther Duflo, the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics within the Department of Economics, and a co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Motion Lab (J-PAL), who received the consideration in 2015.