Eric S. Maskin is an economist, mathematician, and Nobel prize winner. His areas of analysis include game theory, incentives, auction design, contract theory, social variety theory, political monetary device, and intellectual assets.
In 2007, he shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Monetary Sciences with Leonid Hurwicz and Roger Myerson for their artwork on the foundations of mechanism design theory. This theory explores how institutions can achieve attention-grabbing social or monetary targets given the restrictions of folks’ self-interest and incomplete wisdom.
Key Takeaways
- Eric Maskin is an economist and mathematician who was once awarded the Nobel Prize for his artwork in mechanism design theory.
- Maskin has served as a professor at Harvard, Princeton, and MIT.
- His contributions to game theory and mechanism design theory include the concept that that of Maskin monotonicity; he has moreover carried out research in numerous other areas of economics.
Investopedia / Lara Antal
Early Life and Coaching
Eric S. Maskin was once born in New York The city on Dec. 12, 1950, and grew up in Alpine, New Jersey. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1972, his Grab of Arts degree in 1974, and his Ph.D. in performed mathematics in 1976, all from Harvard Faculty.
At Harvard, he was once first exposed to early ideas on mechanism design theory. He was once a postdoctoral fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge Faculty. Throughout his time at Cambridge, he collaborated with Leo Hurwicz on rising mechanism design theory.Â
In 1977, he joined the varsity at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Following his time at MIT, he returned to Harvard from 1985 to 2000 to pursue his research agenda. He left Harvard to enroll in the Institute for Sophisticated Find out about (IAS) from 2000 to 2011. While at IAS he moreover taught at Princeton Faculty. He rejoined the varsity at Harvard in 2012.
Notable Accomplishments
Maskin’s most crucial contributions to economics have been in game theory. He has moreover carried out research on software patents, political monetary device, and other areas of economic thought.
Mechanism Design Idea
While at Cambridge, Maskin worked on advancing mechanism design theory. Mechanism design theory can also be characterized as one of those reverse game theory, where the required results of a cooperative game is given, and the aim is to design a set of rules for a game that can achieve that outcome.
Game theory assumes that all players inside the game are rational and seek to maximize their outcome.
His goal was once to make a decision mathematically when it is imaginable to design a procedure or game that would possibly put in force a given social goal. Maskin demonstrated the mathematical properties of a cooperative outcome that make designing a mechanism to succeed in that outcome imaginable.
Inside the context of designing a voting rule that would possibly satisfy voter preferences, this requires that if any voter’s preferences for the end result change, then it implies that they prefer the new resulting outcome higher than the former one. This would possibly come to be known as a Maskin monotonicity.
Software Patents
Maskin has accomplished performed research arguing towards the use of patents in software development or, by means of extension, other an an identical industries. He argues that if innovation is “sequential” ( each successive invention builds on its predecessors) and “complementary” (each imaginable innovator takes a definite research line), then patent protection is not useful for encouraging innovation.
Society and inventors themselves may even be without such protection because of enlargement would possibly if truth be told be enhanced by means of higher festival and imitation.Â
Political Financial device
In an influential 2004 paper, Maskin formally modeled the result of developing public officials accountable by means of making them subject to re-election. Such accountability we could in most people to strength of will officials, on the other hand it will most probably moreover induce those officials to pander to electorate and want the voting majority over the rights of a minority.
He argues that not protective officials accountable by means of re-election is attention-grabbing when electorate are poorly a professional, acquiring comparable wisdom is pricey, the impact of original actions takes a long time to transform known, and the majority’s preferences are vulnerable to inflict critical costs on a minority.
Which means extraordinarily technical possible choices should be left to unelected judges or bureaucrats, on the other hand he argues that their discretion should be sharply limited and crucial elementary decision-making power should be reserved for elected officials.
Does Eric S. Maskin Teach at Harvard?
Certain, Eric S. Maskin does teach at Harvard. He is lately the Adams Faculty Professor and Professor of Economics and Mathematics at Harvard.
What Is Game Idea?
Game theory is an area of economics that gives with competitive situations and the strategies used in dealing with them. It seems that at the reasons people ensure that possible choices, which focuses on the guidelines of conflict and cooperation.
What Is Prisoner’s Quandary?
The prisoner’s predicament is a common example of a game that is studied in game theory. The theory revolves spherical two prisoners and the best way they act. Within the match that they act selfishly, the result is a suboptimal outcome for each and every. The prisoner’s predicament moreover demonstrates that general cooperation is not necessarily superb.
The Bottom Line
Eric S. Maskin is an economist and mathematician that won the Nobel Prize in Monetary Sciences. His areas of enjoy duvet reasonably a large number of topics, in conjunction with game theory, incentives, auction design, contract theory, social variety theory, political monetary device, and intellectual assets. His contributions to the field of mathematics and economics have been crucial inside the field of mechanism design, software patents, and political monetary device.
