Douglass Cecil North
- Born:
- November 5, 1920, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Died:
- November 23, 2015, Benzonia, Michigan, USA
- Nationality:
- American
- Profession(s):
- Economist, Economic Historian
Early Life and Education
- Received a B.A. in political science, economics, and philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley in 1942.
- Served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II.
- Earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1952.
Career and Major Achievements
- Began his academic career at the University of Washington in 1950.
- Held positions as Professor of Economics and History at the University of Washington.
- Served as the Luce Professor of Law and Liberty at Washington University in St. Louis.
- Awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1993 (jointly with Robert Fogel) for his work in economic history.
- Pioneered the field of New Institutional Economics, focusing on the role of institutions in economic performance.
- His work emphasized the importance of property rights, contract enforcement, and political structures in economic growth.
Notable Works
- The Economic Growth of the United States, 1790-1860 (1961)
- Institutional Change and American Economic Growth (1971)
- Structure and Change in Economic History (1981)
- Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (1990)
- In later years, Douglass North focused on cognitive science and its impacts on institutional economics. Readers will find these thoughts reflected in Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History and elements are revealed in Douglass North Autobiography.
Legacy and Impact
Douglass North significantly transformed the field of economics by integrating institutional analysis into the study of economic history and development. His work provided a framework for understanding the long-run determinants of economic growth and has influenced scholars across disciplines.