The 2020 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics: the Canterbury connection

Abstract

The 2020 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics (officially known as The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel), was awarded to two professors from Stanford University, Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, ‘for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats’. What is probably less well-known is the notable impact made by two New Zealand economists, both economics graduates from the University of Canterbury, in shaping the theory of auctions for which the prize was awarded. This paper looks at the ‘web of influence’ among the two New Zealand economists and the two new Nobel prize winners in as far as the development of auction theory is concerned.