(Karachi) The Nobel Prize in Economics 2020 has been awarded to two American economists, Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, for their contributions to auction theory, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Monday.
Milgrom and Wilson, who are both professors at Stanford University in California, were recognized for theoretical discoveries that improved how auctions work.
BREAKING NEWS:
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 12, 2020
The 2020 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded to Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats.”#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/tBAblj1xf8
“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," says Peter Fredriksson, chair of the Prize Committee.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences stated that both economists used their insights to design new auction formats for goods and services that are difficult to sell in a traditional way, such as radio frequencies. Their discoveries have benefitted sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world, it added.
The Swedish Academy said that Robert Wilson developed the theory for auctions of objects with a common value – a value which is uncertain beforehand but, in the end, is the same for everyone while Paul Milgrom formulated a more general theory of auctions that not only allows common values, but also private values that vary from bidder to bidder.