Market Design Working Group.

• Position: NBER News - Brief article

The NBER's newest Working Group, focusing on Market Design, was established this fall. NBER Research Associate Susan Athey of Harvard University and NBER Faculty Research Fellow Parag Pathak of MIT will co-direct the group.

Over the past two decades, economic research and ideas have played an increased role in the practical organization and design of markets. Some examples include auctions for spectrum, electricity, Treasury bills, timber, and other commodities; tradable permit systems for pollution abatement and other environ mental regulations; internet search advertising; market mechanisms for innovation; labor market clearinghouses; centralized systems for the allocation of organs; formal procedures for student assignment; and other related matching and trading processes. In each of these cases, both theory and empirical and experimental research have influenced the design of market...