Roger Myerson

Roger Bruce Myerson (born March 29, 1951) is an American

Roger Myerson
economist and professor at the University of Chicago. He holds
the title of the David L. Pearson Distinguished Service Professor
of Global Conflict Studies at The Pearson Institute for the Study
and Resolution of Global Conflicts in the Harris School of Public
Policy, the Griffin Department of Economics, and the college.[1]
Previously, he held the title The Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished
Service Professor of Economics.[2] In 2007, he was the winner of
the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of
Alfred Nobel with Leonid Hurwicz and Eric Maskin for "having
laid the foundations of mechanism design theory."[3] He was
elected a Member of the American Philosophical Society in
2019.[4]

Biography
Born March 29, 1951
Roger Myerson was born in 1951 in Boston into a Jewish[5] Boston,
family. He attended Harvard University, where he received his
Massachusetts, US
A.B., summa cum laude, and S.M. in applied mathematics in
1973. He completed his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Academic career
Harvard University in 1976.[6] His doctorate thesis was A Theory Institution University of
of Cooperative Games.[7] Chicago
From 1976 to 2001, Myerson was a professor of economics at Northwestern
Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, where University
he conducted much of his Nobel-winning research.[8] From 1978 Field Game theory
to 1979, he was visiting researcher at Bielefeld University. He was Alma mater Harvard University
visiting professor of economics at the University of Chicago from
(AB, SM, PhD)
1985 to 1986 and from 2000 to 2001. He became professor of
economics at Chicago in 2001. Currently, he is the inaugural Doctoral Kenneth Arrow
David L. Pearson Distinguished Service Professor of Global advisor
Conflict Studies at the University of Chicago.[9] Doctoral Scott E. Page
students Leonard
Awards and honors Wantchekon
Contributions Mechanism design

Bank of Sweden Nobel Memorial Prize Awards Nobel Memorial

Prize in Economic
Myerson was one of the three winners of the 2007 Nobel Sciences (2007)
Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, the other two being Leonid Information (https://ideas.repec.org/
Hurwicz of the University of Minnesota, and Eric Maskin of the e/pmy13.html) at IDEAS / RePEc
Institute for Advanced Study. He was awarded the prize for his
contributions to mechanism design theory.[10]
Myerson made a path-breaking contribution to mechanism design theory when he discovered a
fundamental connection between the allocation to be implemented and the monetary transfers needed to
induce informed agents to reveal their information truthfully. Mechanism design theory allows for people to
distinguish situations in which markets work well from those in which they do not. The theory has helped
economists identify efficient trading mechanisms, regulation schemes, and voting procedures. Today, the
theory plays a central role in many areas of economics and parts of political science.[10]

Memberships and honors

Myerson is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences,
the Council on Foreign Relations, and the American Philosophical Society.[7] He is a Fellow of the Game
Theory Society[11] and serves as an advisory board member on the International Journal of Game
Theory.[12] Myerson holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Basel in 2002 [13] and received
the Jean-Jacques Laffont Prize in 2009.[14] He also served on the Social Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize
in 2016.

Personal life
In 1980, Myerson married Regina (née Weber) and the couple had two children, Daniel and Rebecca.[15]
His daughter, Rebecca, is a health economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.[16]

Publications
Game theory and mechanism design

Myerson, Roger B. (August 1977). "Graphs and Cooperation in Games" (http://www.kellogg.

northwestern.edu/research/math/papers/246.pdf) (PDF). Mathematics of Operations
Research. 2 (3): 225–229. doi:10.1287/moor.2.3.225 (https://doi.org/10.1287%2Fmoor.2.3.22
5). hdl:10419/220606 (https://hdl.handle.net/10419%2F220606).
Myerson, Roger B. (October 1977). "Two-Person Bargaining Problems and Comparable
Utility" (http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/math/papers/247.pdf) (PDF).
Econometrica. 45 (7): 1631–1637. doi:10.2307/1913955 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F191395
5). JSTOR 1913955 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1913955).
Myerson, R. B. (June 1978). "Refinements of the Nash Equilibrium Concept" (http://www.kell
ogg.northwestern.edu/research/math/papers/295.pdf) (PDF). International Journal of Game
Theory. 7 (2): 73–80. doi:10.1007/BF01753236 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF01753236).
S2CID 222358176 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:222358176).
Myerson, Roger B. (January 1979). "Incentive Compatibility and the Bargaining Problem".
Econometrica. 47 (1): 61–73. doi:10.2307/1912346 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1912346).
JSTOR 1912346 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1912346).
Myerson, Roger B. (February 1981). "Optimal Auction Design" (https://semanticscholar.org/p
aper/542fbbca4262ee7aa143083d5d1132122c4e7ab7). Mathematics of Operations
Research. 6 (1): 58–73. doi:10.1287/moor.6.1.58 (https://doi.org/10.1287%2Fmoor.6.1.58).
S2CID 12282691 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:12282691).
Myerson, Roger B. (November 1983). "Mechanism Design by an Informed Principal" (http://
www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/math/papers/481.pdf) (PDF). Econometrica. 51 (6):
1767–1797. doi:10.2307/1912116 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1912116). JSTOR 1912116
(https://www.jstor.org/stable/1912116).
Myerson, Roger B. (1984). "Two-Person Bargaining Problems with Incomplete Information".
Econometrica. 52 (2): 461–487. doi:10.2307/1911499 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1911499).
 JSTOR 1911499 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1911499).
"Bayesian Equilibrium and Incentive Compatibility," in Hurwicz, Leonid; Schmeidler, David;
Sonnenschein, Hugo, eds. (2005). Social goals and social organization : essays in memory
of Elisha Pazner. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 229–259.
ISBN 9780521023955.

He wrote a general textbook on game theory in 1991, and has also written on the history of game theory,
including his review of the origins and significance of noncooperative game theory.[17] He also served on
the editorial board of the International Journal of Game Theory for ten years.

Myerson has worked on economic analysis of political institutions and written several major survey papers:

Myerson, Roger B. (Winter 1995). "Analysis of Democratic Institutions: Structure, Conduct,

and Performance" (http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.9.1.77). Journal of
Economic Perspectives. 9 (1): 77–89. doi:10.1257/jep.9.1.77 (https://doi.org/10.1257%2Fjep.
9.1.77). JSTOR 2138356 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2138356).
"Economic Analysis of Political Institutions: An Introduction," Advances in Economic Theory
and Econometrics: Theory and Applications, volume 1, edited by D. Kreps and K. Wallis
(Cambridge University Press, 1997), pages 46–65.
Myerson, Roger B. (April 1999). "Theoretical Comparisons of Electoral Systems". European
Economic Review. 43 (4–6): 671–697. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.21.9735 (https://citeseerx.ist.psu.ed
u/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.21.9735). doi:10.1016/S0014-2921(98)00089-0 (https://doi.
org/10.1016%2FS0014-2921%2898%2900089-0).

Myerson, R. B. (Winter 2022–2023). "Stabilization Lessons from the British Empire" (https://t
nsr.org/2022/11/stabilization-lessons-from-the-british-empire/). Texas National Security
Review. 6 (1). Retrieved 5 December 2022.

His recent work on democratization has raised critical questions about American policy in occupied Iraq:

Myerson, Roger B. (June 2013). "Fundamentals of social choice theory". Quarterly Journal
of Political Science. 8 (3): 305–337. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.297.6781 (https://citeseerx.ist.psu.ed
u/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.297.6781). doi:10.1561/100.00013006 (https://doi.org/10.15
61%2F100.00013006).

Books

Game theory: analysis of conflict. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

1991. ISBN 9780674728615.
Probability models for economic decisions. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Brooke/Cole. 2005.
ISBN 9780534423810.

Concepts named after him

Myerson–Satterthwaite theorem
Myerson mechanism
 Myerson ironing

See also
List of economists
 List of Jewish Nobel laureates

References
1. "Roger Myerson Pearson Institute Faculty Profile" (https://thepearsoninstitute.org/faculty/rog
er-myerson).
2. "Prof. Myerson's University of Chicago Department of Economics Profile" (https://economics.
uchicago.edu/directory/roger-b-myerson).
3. "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2007" (htt
p://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2007/press.html) (Press release).
Nobel Foundation. October 15, 2007. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
4. "APS Announces 2019 Class of New Members" (https://www.amphilsoc.org/blog/aps-annou
nces-2019-class-new-members).
5. "Jewish Nobel Prize laureates - Economics" (https://www.science.co.il/nobel-prizes/Econom
ics.php). www.science.co.il. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
6. "Front & Center with John Callaway: The Global Economic Crisis | Pritzker Military Museum
& Library | Chicago" (http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/front-
center-john-callaway-global-economic-crisis/).
7. "Curriculum Vitae of Roger Myerson" (http://home.uchicago.edu/~rmyerson/research/rbmvit
a.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2008-08-15.
8. JUF News: Nobel Prize winners have Jewish, Chicago connections (http://www.juf.org/new
s/local.aspx?id=27784&terms=Roger+Myerson)
9. "Roger Myerson appointed inaugural David L. Pearson Distinguished Service Professor" (ht
tps://news.uchicago.edu/story/roger-myerson-appointed-inaugural-david-l-pearson-distingui
shed-service-professor). Retrieved 2019-12-23.
10. "Roger Myerson wins 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics" (http://www-news.uchicag
o.edu/releases/07/071015.nobel.myerson.shtml). University of Chicago. 2007-10-17.
Retrieved 2008-08-16.
11. "Game Theory Society - People" (http://gametheorysociety.org/people/).
12. "International Journal of Game Theory Editors" (https://www.springer.com/journal/182/editor
s).
13. "Honorary Awards Faculty of Business and Economics" (https://www.unibas.ch/en/Universit
y/About-University/Dies-Academicus/Honorary-Awards-Dies-Academicus-Faculty-of-Busine
ss-and-Economics.html).
14. "Jean Jacques Laffont Prize Former Laureates" (https://www.tse-fr.eu/jjl-prize). 5 June 2018.
15. Roger B. Myerson (https://www.nobelprize.org/laureate/822) on Nobelprize.org , accessed
11 October 2020
16. "Myerson, Rebecca" (https://pophealth.wisc.edu/staff/myerson-rebecca/). 28 August 2019.
17. Myerson, Roger B. (1999). "Nash Equilibrium and the History of Economic Theory". Journal
of Economic Literature. 37 (3): 1067–1082. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.130.7955 (https://citeseerx.ist.p
su.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.130.7955). doi:10.1257/jel.37.3.1067 (https://doi.org/1
0.1257%2Fjel.37.3.1067). JSTOR 2564872 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2564872).

External links
Roger B. Myerson (https://www.nobelprize.org/laureate/822) on Nobelprize.org including the
Nobel Lecture Perspectives on Mechanism Design in Economic Theory
Webpage at the University of Chicago (http://home.uchicago.edu/~rmyerson)
 ABC News Chicago interview (http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5707479)
Roger Myerson (https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=99809) at the Mathematics Genealogy
Project
The scientific background to the 2007 Nobel prize: Mechanism Design Theory (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20071025023317/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/20
07/ecoadv07.pdf)
Myerson participated in panel discussion, The Global Economic Crisis: What Does It Mean
for U.S. National Security? (http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-present
s/front-center-john-callaway-global-economic-crisis/) at the Pritzker Military Museum &
Library on April 2, 2009

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