Their research centered around tracing the roots of the question: "Why are some countries poorer and others more prosperous? And why do those inequalities persist?"

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded on Monday to Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, both of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and to James Robinson of the University of Chicago.

The three received the award for their work on the differences in prosperity among nations, and the role institutions play in economic progress.