The FIXER

Alvin E. Roth still recalls his visceral reaction in 1995 when he got the call from Bob Beran of the National Resident Matching Program. The "Match" -- a clearinghouse that annually pairs thousands of newly minted US physicians with jobs -- was looking for someone to direct its redesign. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Finance & Development 2014-12, Vol.51 (4), p.2
Main Author: Burke, Maureen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Clearinghouses
College admissions
Design
Designers
Economics
Economists
Game theory
Labor market
Laboratories
Market analysis
Medical students
Nobel prizes
Operations research
Personal profiles
Physicians
Roth, Alvin E
Secondary schools
Women
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Summary:Alvin E. Roth still recalls his visceral reaction in 1995 when he got the call from Bob Beran of the National Resident Matching Program. The "Match" -- a clearinghouse that annually pairs thousands of newly minted US physicians with jobs -- was looking for someone to direct its redesign. This project marked Roth's first venture into the real-world practice of market design, for which he would win the Nobel Prize in economics with Lloyd Shapley in 2012. Roth is a game theorist who specializes in "matching markets" -- markets in which changes in price alone do not clear the market. A pioneer of a new branch of economics called market design, Roth uses the mathematical tools of game theory to fix systems whose market mechanism has failed. In summer 2012, Roth was awarded the Nobel -- something he termed "a great honor" but which resulted in an onslaught of email, as well as speaking engagements and other commitments.
ISSN:0015-1947
1564-5142