Douglass C. North is an American Economic historian, who was awarded Nobel Prize for Economics in 1993 along with Robert W. Fogel. He will be remembered for his research works in economic history, which explains economic and institutional change through economic theory and quantitative methods.
Personal, career and Academic profiles
Douglass C. North was born on 1920 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
In 1942, North completed his B.A. in General Curriculum-Humanities.
In 1950, he became a member of the faculty at Washington University (St Louis).
In 1952, he was awarded Ph.D. in Economics.
During 1950 to 1983, North worked as the Professor of Economics at the University of Washington
In 1960, North became an editor of the Journal of Economic History. During this period, he established a new method of practice, called cliometrics. Cliometrics establishes different interpretations of the past through economic and quantitative methodology to history.
In 1983, North joined the faculty of Washington University in Saint Louis
During 1984 to 1990, he served as the director of the Center for Political Economy
In 1997, North, along with Ronald Coase and Oliver Williamson instituted International Society for the New Institutional Economics.
Honors and awards
In 1992, Douglass C. North was awarded the most esteemed honors, the John R. Commons Award. He was the first economic historian to receive this award.
In 1993, Douglass C. North was awarded Nobel Prize in Economics.
Theory propounded
Three of the major works of Douglass C. North include New Institutional Economics, Economic History and Economic Development. He is famous for his research works in economic history, which explains economic and institutional change through economic theory and quantitative methods.
He is currency engaged in research works on property rights, transaction costs, and economic organization in history.
Major publications Working papers
1961: The Economic Growth of the United States, 1790–1860, Prentice Hall
1971(with Lance Davis) : Institutional Change and American Economic Growth, Cambridge University Press
1973 (with Robert Thomas) : The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History
1974: Growth and Welfare in the American Past, Prentice-Hall
1981: Structure and Change in Economic History, Norton
1990: Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press
1996: Empirical Studies in Institutional Change, Cambridge University Press
2005: Understanding the Process of Economic Change, Princeton University Press