Milgrom, Wilson Win Nobel Prize in Economics for Auction Theory

The two have been awarded “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats.”

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@NobelPrize)

The 2020 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfed Nobel has been awarded to Paul R Milgrom and Robert B Wilson.

The two have been awarded "for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats," the official Twitter handle for the Nobel Prize said on Monday, 12 October.

(Screenshot)

Wilson, the Nobel Prize's official Twitter handle said, has shown why rational bidders tend to place bids below their own best estimate of the common value. Meanwhile, Milgrom has formulated a "more general theory of auctions that not only allows common values, but also private values that vary from bidder to bidder," it said.

Both Migrom (72) and Wilson (83) are economists from the US and have been associated with Stanford University.

Last year, Indian-American economist Abhijit Banerjee was among the three people who jointly won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Banerjee was awarded the prize along with his wife, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty."