With Daron Acemoglu, he is the co-author of several books, including The Narrow Corridor, Why Nations Fail, and Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy.

[6] In 2024, Robinson, Acemoglu, and Simon Johnson were awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their comparative studies on prosperity between nations.

[12] He has conducted research in countries around the world including Botswana, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Colombia, where he teaches every summer at the University of the Andes in Bogotá.

[13] On 17 March 2023, James Robinson met with students, scientists, leaders of social opinion, and representatives of finance, economy, and business circles in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

[15] Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (2006), co-authored by Robinson with Daron Acemoglu analyzes the creation and consolidation of democratic societies.

"[16] In Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (2012), Acemoglu and Robinson argue that economic growth at the forefront of technology requires political stability, which the Mayan civilization (to name only one) did not have,[17] and creative destruction.