Why global markets have failed to reduce inequality
Prof. Eric S. Maskin
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Eric Stark Maskin is an American economist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2007 "for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory", a specialized form of game theory which attempts to maximize gains for all parties within markets and which examines whether trading mechanisms are the best ways of allocating resources. Professor Maskin is the Albert O. Hirschman Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study and a visiting lecturer with the rank of Professor at Princeton University's Economics Department.
Eric Maskin graduated from Tenafly High School in New Jersey in 1968 and attended Harvard University where he received his A.B. in Mathematics and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics. After he earned his doctorate Dr. Maskin went to the University of Cambridge in 1976 where he received an honorary M.A. degree while being a research fellow at Jesus College. He taught as a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1977-1984 and from 1985-2000 at Harvard where he was named the Louis Berkman Professor of Economics in 1997. In 2000 he moved to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
Eric Maskin graduated from Tenafly High School in New Jersey in 1968 and attended Harvard University where he received his A.B. in Mathematics and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics. After he earned his doctorate Dr. Maskin went to the University of Cambridge in 1976 where he received an honorary M.A. degree while being a research fellow at Jesus College. He taught as a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1977-1984 and from 1985-2000 at Harvard where he was named the Louis Berkman Professor of Economics in 1997. In 2000 he moved to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
Much of Professor Maskin's early work in the mid 1970s was in the area of "implementation" theory, which addresses the question of when one can devise procedural rules ensuring that society will make the best choice from among a set of alternatives. A vast literature on implementation, influenced by Professor Maskin's groundbreaking work, has since evolved. In the early 1980s Professor Maskin began his work on the subject of "optimal" auctions, exploring the question of what sort of auctions or selling procedures raise the most revenue. Partly as a result of this work, Professor Maskin was asked in the early 1990s to give advice to the Bank of Italy on possible reforms in their system of auctioning treasury bonds.
Today Professor Maskin works in diverse areas of economic theory including game theory, the economics of incentives, contract theory and social choice theory. He is particularly well known for his papers on mechanism design, implementation theory and dynamic games. Much of his current research focuses on the theory of coalition formation and the theory of repeated games, comparing different voting systems and electoral rules and exploring which methods of voting best promote democratic values, examining the causes of income inequality and exploring the benefits and drawbacks of protecting intellectual property.
The theories developed by Professor Maskin introduced mechanisms to the market that would lead to optimal outcomes for all participants. This work has applications in the financial sector, in studies of voter behaviour and in business management. It has helped economists to identify efficient trading mechanisms, regulation schemes and voting procedures. A leading economist Professor Maskin's work has had a deep influence on many areas of economics, political science and law and has been drawn on extensively by researchers in industrial organization, finance and development.
A financial crisis - like the one we are witnessing now - could be averted by mechanism design theory, Professor Maskin says. "We can do a lot better in reducing the risk of such a crisis by having a regulatory system to oversee what is happening in the financial market." While mechanism design theory has been around for many years, with successful applications in telecommunication, "its most important applications are still to come," he adds.
Lectures Professor Maskin has given on his work include, among others, the Churchill Lectures at Cambridge University, the Kenneth Arrow Lectures at Stanford University, the Alfred Marshall Lecture of the European Economic Association in Santiago de Compostella, the Seattle Lecture of the Econometric Society Eighth World Congress, the Vilfredo Pareto Lecture in Tel Aviv and the Lionel McKenzie Lecture at the University of Rochester.
Professor Maskin is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Past-President of the Econometric Society, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the European Economic Association, an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College in Cambridge and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. He was named Monash Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Monash University and Honorary Professor at Wuhan University and at Tsinghua University. He received various honorary doctorate degrees and was awarded the Erik Kempe Award in Environmental Economics in 2007. Professor Maskin has served as Editor or Associate Editor for many journals including The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Economics Letters, Social Choice and Welfare, Games and Economic Behaviour and International Journal of Game Theory.
SCHEDULE
Monday, January 18, 2010:
10:00 Dialogue with high school students at the NIST International School in Bangkok (Thailand) (not a public event)
14:00 Keynote speech and dialogue at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok (Thailand) Information and free seat reservation:
phone (02) 697-6861-2, fax (02) 277-1803, email amata_kan@utcc.ac.th,ascenter@utcc.ac.th
Wednesday, January 20, 2010:
14:00 Keynote speech and dialogue at the University of Cambodia in Phnom Penh (Cambodia)
Information and free seat reservation:
phone (023) 993-274, (023) 993-275, (012) 483-508, fax (023) 993-284, email malis.por@uc.edu.kh,info@uc.edu.kh
Thursday, January 21, 2010:
10:00 Dialogue with high school students at the International School of Phnom Penh in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) (not a public event)
Friday, January 22, 2010:
14:00 Public dialogue with researchers at the National University of Management in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) Information and free seat reservation:
phone (023) 428-120, (012) 887-693, fax (023) 427-105, email S.G.Paterson@gmail.com
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