Two economists from Stanford University were the recipients of this year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Scientists Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson received the prize for the “improvements [they had made] to auction theory and [the] invention of new auction formats.” Furthermore, their work has – and will be – beneficial to buyers, sellers and taxpayers globally.
These auction formats can be used for both goods and services which are hard to sell in any of the conventional avenues. Two examples of this are radio frequencies and the volume of minerals in a specified area.