The Nobel Prize in economics was awarded on Monday to Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, two American auction experts, for "improving auction theory and inventing new auction formats".
The Nobel Prize in economics was awarded on Monday to the Americans Paul Milgrom, 72 years old and Robert Wilson, 83 years old, two auction experts whose innovative work was notably used in the allocation of telecom frequencies.
The "Bank of Sweden Prize in Economics in Memory of Alfred Nobel" is awarded to them for having "improved auction theory and invented new auction formats", said the jury of the Swedish Academy of Sciences .
BREAKING NEWS:
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.” # NobelPrizepic.twitter.com/ tBAblj1xf8
- The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 12, 2020
"Auctions are everywhere"
The duo, who were one of the favorites for the award this year, are best known for being behind the concept for the sale of telecommunications frequency band licenses in the United States.
The two economists, both teachers at Stanford, also worked on the mechanisms for allocating landing slots at airports.
"Auctions are everywhere and affect our daily life", notes the jury.
In 2019, the prize was awarded to a trio of researchers specializing in the fight against poverty, the Americans Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer and the Franco-American Esther Duflo, second distinguished woman in the discipline and youngest laureate in history. of this price.
The last of the Nobel prizes awarded this year
The economy comes to close a Nobel season marked on Friday by the peace prize of the World Food Program, the UN body for the fight against hunger.
Thursday, the American poet Louise Glück had won literature.
In addition to the American Andrea Ghez, co-winner in physics on Tuesday, two women have entered the history of the Nobels for their discovery of "genetic scissors": the French Emmanuelle Charpentier and the American Jennifer Doudna became the first 100% female duo to win a scientific Nobel.
The winners, who share nearly a million euros for each discipline, will receive their prize this year in their country of residence, due to coronavirus.