Douglass C. North

Dr. North has received many honors, among them: in 1987 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; in 1992 he received the John R. Commons Award, the first economic historian to do so; in 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics; and was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1996. His research has focused on the formation of political and economic institutions and the consequences of these institutions on the performance of economics through time. His book Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (1990; Cambridge University Press) has become a classic in this field. Dr. North is a professor at Washington University in Saint Louis. His current research includes property rights, transaction costs, and economic organization in history as well as economic development in developing countries. For his autobiography see:: http://www.nobel.se/economics/laureates/1993/north-autobio.html