INNOVATION

Paul Milgrom

Professor

American Jewish academic Paul Milgrom and his Stanford University colleague Robert Wilson won the 2020 Nobel Economics Prize for work on auctions that has been hailed for benefiting buyers and sellers around the world on everything from fishing quotas to aircraft landing slots. Milgrom’s contribution centered upon his theories of “private values,” when the perceived value of something differs from bidder to bidder. He demonstrated that an auction format will give the seller higher expected revenue when bidders learn more about each other’s estimated values during the bidding process. A video of Wilson repeatedly buzzing Milgrom’s front door in the early hours of the morning while attempting to tell him of their Nobel win has since gone viral. (Photo: Stanford / Screenshot)