Engaged Learning

Who Gets What: The New Economics of Matching and Market Design

by Alyssa Aninag

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Nobel Prize Laureate Alvin Roth

The 2nd Annual Finance and Economics Speaker Series commences this November 14 with Nobel Prize Laureate Alvin E. Roth presenting, “Who Gets What: The New Economics of Matching and Market Design,” in the Xavier Auditorium at 6pm. Roth received the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, a shared honor with Lloyd Shapley of UCLA, for his work in addressing the underlying economic structure common to the problems and procedures for matching different economic agents, like athletes with teams and adoptive children with adoptive parents.

Ludwig Chincarini, Associate Professor of Finance and Economics, who invited Dr. Roth, said, “This event is not just for the business minded. This is a great opportunity for the entire USF community to interact with a Nobel Prize Laureate. We can all come away with learning how we can apply our own work where we see fit.”

Roth is the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University. Prior to that, he was the Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard University and the Andrew Mellon Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh. Throughout his career, he has made significant contributions to the fields of game theory, market design, and experimental economics. His research focuses on clarifying important markets in practice and he is known for applying economic theory to real-world issues.

Roth’s practical investigations have improved the market designs of the selection process for students, medical residents, and other agents in the medical field. Incorporating the Gale-Shapley algorithm, he helped redesign systems, which efficiently match students to schools in New York City and Boston. In the medical field, Roth applied a similar process for matching medical residents to medical schools, organ donors with patients, and doctors with hospitals. His effective practice has provided an exemplary model for the engineering of matching different economic agents.

Founded by Dr. Chincarini, the Finance and Economic Speaker Series aims to bring renowned practitioners and entrepreneurs to address the USF community. Last year, the Series welcomed Jeremy Howard, CEO and President of Kaggle, MIT Professor Stephen Ross, and Ioan Allen, Executive of Dolby Systems and Pioneer in Dolby Sound to speak on a variety of topics in their respective fields. Howard discussed how data can be used to make the world a better place, Ross discussed his discovery of the Binomial Option Pricing Model, and Allen brought his business perspective on sound and cinema.

We invite you to the return of the Speaker Series with an exciting first event, “Who Gets What: The New Economics of Matching and Market Design,” featuring Nobel Laureate Alvin E. Roth. Join us in the Xavier Auditorium on November 14, at 6pm, for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear a Nobel Laureate discuss how he applies his complex field of study to impact both small and large-scale economic processes.