American economists Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in economics for their contributions to auction theory, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Milgrom and Wilson, who are both professors at Stanford University in California, were recognized for theoretical discoveries that improved how auctions work. According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, they also designed auction formats for goods and services that are difficult to sell in a traditional way, such as radio frequencies.
“This year’s Laureates in Economic Sciences started out with fundamental theory and later used their results in practical applications, which have spread globally. Their discoveries are of great benefit to society,” Peter Fredriksson, chair of the prize committee, said in a statement.
According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the economists invented new formats for auctioning many interrelated objects on behalf of a seller motivated by doing good for society rather than simply achieving the highest price possible.
The prize for economics is officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. It was established by Sweden’s central bank and has been awarded since 1969 in memory of industrialist Alfred Nobel.
The following is a list of their published works relating to antitrust:
- How Market Design Emerged from Game Theory: A Mutual Interview Robert Wilson, Alvin E. Roth. Journal of Economic Perspectives. August 2019, Vol. 33
- Foundations of Dynamic Monopoly and the Coase Conjecture Faruk Gul, Hugo Sonnenschein, Robert Wilson. Journal of Economic Theory. 1986, Vol. 39, Issue 1
- Nonlinear Pricing Robert Wilson Oxford Press, 1993.
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