Future Directions in Market Design

This research project combines a retrospective assessment of key discoveries and advances in market design with prospective analyses of the most promising directions for future applications. It will include extensive engagement both from academic researchers and from practitioners from many sectors of the economy, including government, industry, and NGOs. The project will involve ten distinct research studies, roughly equally divided between assessments of the accomplishments of and lessons from past applications and on the prospects for future uses of market design tools.

The “taking stock” part of the project will assess key advances in market design over the last twenty-five years. Researchers will be asked to assess advances with regard to several key applications, such as spectrum auctions, energy markets, cap and trade systems, labor and educational market matching algorithms, and mechanisms for paired organ donation. The “looking forward” part of the project will develop an agenda for future research and applications of market design algorithms. Potential topics include: transportation, vaccine markets, pollution regulation, platform design in the ‘gig economy,’ and labor market and personnel matching algorithms in the military.