Professor North received the Nobel Prize for pioneering the use of modern statistical methods to re-examine how economies developed in the past. His work as an economic historian has stressed the importance of institutions in determining whether countries are rich or poor and investigates why political and economic institutions have evolved over time. The relevance of institutional change to growth is especially clear today as the countries of Eastern Europe struggle to make the transition to market economies.

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(Click a lecture for more information.)

• The First Lecture, 1988, Herbert A. Simon (Nobel 1978)
• The Second Lecture, 1989, William Cooper (Von Neumann Medal 1982)
• The Third Lecture, 1990, Franco Modigliani (Nobel 1985)
• The Fourth Lecture, 1991, Richard Cyret
• The Fifth Lecture, 1992, James Tobin (Nobel 1981)
• The Sixth Lecture, 1993, Robert Solow (Nobel 1987)
• The Seventh Lecture, 1994, Kenneth Arrow (Nobel 1972)
• The Eight Lecture, 1995, Lawrence Klein (Nobel 1980)
• The Ninth Lecture, 1996, Harry M. Markowitz (Nobel 1990)
• The Tenth Lecture, 1997, Douglas C. North (Nobel 1993)
• The Eleventh Lecture, 1998, James A. Mirrlees (Nobel 1996)
• The Twelfth Lecture, 1999, Robert W. Fogel (Nobel 1993)
• The Thirteenth Lecture, 2000, Herbert A. Simon (Nobel 1977)
• The Fourteenth Lecture, 2001, Joseph Stiglitz (Nobel 2001)
• The Fifteenth Lecture, 2002, James A. Heckman (Nobel 2000)
• The Sixthteenth Lecture, 2004, Vernon L. Smith (Nobel 2002)
• The Seventeenth Lecture, 2006, Finn Kydland (Nobel 2004)