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  • December 2020
  • Article
  • Journal of Economic Literature

The Parable of the Auctioneer: Complexity in Paul R. Milgrom's Discovering Prices

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Alexander Teytelboym
  • Format:Print
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Abstract

Designing marketplaces in complex settings requires both novel economic theory and real-world engineering, often drawing upon ideas from fields such as computer science and operations research. In Discovering Prices, Milgrom (2017) explains the theory and design of the United States “Incentive Auction” that reallocated wireless spectrum licenses from television broadcasters to telecoms. Milgrom’s account teaches us how economic designers can grapple with complexity both in theory and in practice. Along the way, we come to understand several different types of complexity that can arise in market design.

Keywords

Pricing; Design; Auctions; Market Design; Complexity

Citation

Kominers, Scott Duke, and Alexander Teytelboym. "The Parable of the Auctioneer: Complexity in Paul R. Milgrom's Discovering Prices." Journal of Economic Literature 58, no. 4 (December 2020): 1180–1196.

About The Author

Scott Duke Kominers

Entrepreneurial Management
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