One of the world’s most influential economists is coming to Croatia
One of the world’s best-known economists, James A. Robinson, is expected to visit Dubrovnik this June ahead of his appearance as the keynote speaker at Adria Business Forum 2026. The official forum site states that the conference will take place on 16 June 2026 at the Mozaik Event Center in Zagreb, and presents Robinson as its central guest. It also highlights his status as the 2024 Nobel Prize winner in Economics and the co-author of the global bestseller Why Nations Fail.
Dubrovnik is also expected to be part of the visit
According to the announcements surrounding the visit, Robinson is expected to come to Dubrovnik before travelling to Zagreb for the forum, which would bring one of today’s most influential public thinkers to the city as well.
That gives the visit a wider significance. Robinson is not only a high-profile academic name, but also a thinker whose work has shaped global debates on institutions, prosperity, democracy and why some countries succeed while others fail.
What the forum will focus on
The forum itself is being presented as a major business and public-affairs event built around questions of competitiveness, economic growth, institutional development and the role of innovation in the modern economy. The official programme page says Adria Business Forum 2026 will include keynote lectures, panel discussions and thematic sessions intended for business leaders, entrepreneurs, managers and public-sector representatives.
Among the listed programme highlights is a panel on Croatia’s competitiveness in the world, while the wider framing of the conference revolves around the challenge of why some economies are more successful than others and what that means for Croatia and the region.
What James A. Robinson will speak about
According to the official English-language programme, Robinson’s main lecture is titled “Why do some nations fail and some prosper?” and is scheduled for the late afternoon of the forum, followed by a moderated Q&A session. The forum site says his appearance will focus on the findings behind his Nobel Prize-winning research and on the wider themes of institutional strength, prosperity and long-term national success.
That makes his visit especially relevant beyond economics alone. Robinson’s work speaks not only to academic audiences, but also to questions of governance, development and the quality of institutions — all topics with clear importance for business, politics and society more broadly.
Why James A. Robinson matters
Robinson is widely known for his research on the role of institutions in economic development and for co-authoring Why Nations Fail, a book that has been translated into 41 languages, according to the official forum material. The same source presents him as one of the leading contemporary thinkers on the competitiveness of nations, the differences between democracies and dictatorships, and the factors that shape long-term prosperity.
He is also the 2024 laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, shared with Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson. According to the Nobel Prize organisation, the prize was awarded “for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.” Robinson was born in 1960 and was affiliated with the University of Chicago at the time of the award.
His arrival in Croatia is therefore not simply the visit of a famous academic, but the arrival of a figure whose ideas have reached far beyond universities and into public policy, business and international debate.
A visit that adds weight to the wider forum programme
The forum itself is being presented as a major business and public affairs event. Official programme information says Adria Business Forum 2026 will include keynote talks, panel discussions and thematic sessions focused on competitiveness, economic growth, institutional development and innovation.
In that context, Robinson’s appearance gives the forum particular international weight. And if Dubrovnik is indeed part of his Croatian visit as expected, that would give the city an especially interesting connection to a figure whose work has helped shape how much of the world thinks about power, institutions and development.
More than a formal visit
For Dubrovnik, a visit like this would matter not only because of Robinson’s profile, but because of what it represents. The city is usually seen internationally through heritage, tourism and scenery, but visits by globally influential intellectuals and public figures also remind audiences that Dubrovnik can form part of wider conversations about ideas, policy and the future.
That is part of what makes this expected visit so interesting. It would connect Dubrovnik, even briefly, to a much broader international intellectual and economic context.
Photo: adriabusinessforum.com
