Daron Acemoglu and Co-Authors Examine Economic Misperceptions and Support for Democracy in New MIT Working Paper

A new working paper co-authored by Daron Acemoglu, Foreign Member of the Luxembourg Academy of Sciences and Arts (LASA), examines how perceptions of economic performance can influence public attitudes towards democratic, populist and authoritarian political systems.

Dated 12 August 2026 and listed by the MIT Department of Economics, “Where the Grass Seems Greener: Economic Misperceptions and Support for Democracy” is co-authored by Daron Acemoglu, Nicolás Ajzenman, Guillermo Cruces, Martin Fiszbein, Gastón García Zavaleta and Carlos Molina.

The research draws on two large survey experiments involving a total of 11,377 respondents during Argentina’s 2023 presidential election. The authors investigate how perceptions of the economic performance of different political regimes relate to political preferences, and how those perceptions respond when individuals receive new information.

The study reports that optimistic beliefs about the economic performance of populist and non-democratic regimes were widespread among respondents and were associated with greater support for such political systems. When participants were provided with information challenging these perceptions, they adjusted both their economic expectations and, to varying degrees, their political attitudes.

The researchers also examine the role of different information sources. According to the study, evidence presented through academic sources and newspaper reporting produced stronger changes in respondents’ beliefs than information delivered through social media. At the same time, participants presented with information that contradicted their prior beliefs became less willing to seek additional information, a pattern discussed by the authors in relation to motivated reasoning.

The findings contribute to continuing research in political economy and behavioural economics on the relationship between economic perceptions, information, institutional confidence and political preferences. As a working paper, the study represents ongoing research and remains part of the wider process of academic scrutiny and discussion.

Daron Acemoglu is Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, together with Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson, for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.

He is a Foreign Member of the Luxembourg Academy of Sciences and Arts (LASA).

The new research extends Professor Acemoglu’s longstanding work on political institutions, economic development, technological change and the forces shaping prosperity and institutional performance.