Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    An Invitation to Market Design
    19 Sep 2017Working Paper Summaries

    An Invitation to Market Design

    by Scott Duke Kominers, Alexander Teytelboym, and Vincent P. Crawford
    Effective market design can improve liquidity, efficiency, and equity in markets. This paper illustrates best practices in market design through three examples: the design of medical residency matching programs, a scrip system to allocate food donations to food banks, and the recent “Incentive Auction” that reallocated wireless spectrum from television broadcasters to telecoms.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Author Abstract

    Market design seeks to translate economic theory and analysis into practical solutions to real-world problems. By redesigning both the rules that guide market transactions and the infrastructure that enables those transactions to take place, market designers can address a broad range of market failures. In this paper, we illustrate the process and power of market design through three examples: the design of medical residency matching programs, a scrip system to allocate food donations to food banks, and the recent “Incentive Auction” that reallocated wireless spectrum from television broadcasters to telecoms. Our lead examples show how effective market design can encourage participation, reduce gaming, and aggregate information, in order to improve liquidity, efficiency, and equity in markets. We also discuss a number of fruitful applications of market design in other areas of economic and public policy.


    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: September 2017
    • HBS Working Paper Number: HBS Working Paper #18-019
    • Faculty Unit(s): Entrepreneurial Management
      Trending
        • 23 Jun 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        All Those Zoom Meetings May Boost Connection and Curb Loneliness

        • 25 Jan 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

        • 21 Jun 2022
        • HBS Case

        Free Isn’t Always Better: How Slack Holds Its Own Against Microsoft Teams

        • 22 Jun 2022
        • Book

        Four Elements for Finding the Right Career Path

        • 18 Apr 2022
        • HBS Case

        Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off

    Scott Duke Kominers
    Scott Duke Kominers
    MBA Class of 1960 Associate Professor of Business Administration
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Market Design
    • Financial Liquidity
    • Equity
    • Resource Allocation
    • Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms
    • Auctions
    • Marketplace Matching

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College