Robert B.

Wilson
Robert Butler Wilson, Jr. (born May 16, 1937) is an American
Robert B. Wilson
economist and the Adams Distinguished Professor of
Management, Emeritus at Stanford University. He was jointly Born May 16, 1937
awarded the 2020 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Geneva, Nebraska,
together with his Stanford colleague and former student Paul R. U.S.
Milgrom,[2] "for improvements to auction theory and inventions of Education Harvard University
new auction formats".[3][4] Two more of his students, Alvin E. (BA, MBA, DBA)
Roth and Bengt Holmström, are also Nobel Laureates in their own
right.[5][6] Known for Game theory in
industrial
Wilson is known for his contributions to management science and organization
business economics. His doctoral thesis introduced sequential Sequential quadratic
quadratic programming, which became a leading iterative method programming
for nonlinear programming.[7] With other mathematical economists
Awards Golden Goose Award
at Stanford, he helped to reformulate the economics of industrial
organization and organization theory using non-cooperative game (2014)
theory.[8][9] His research on nonlinear pricing has influenced BBVA Foundation
policies for large firms, particularly in the energy industry, Frontiers of
especially electricity.[10][11] Knowledge Award
(2015)
Nobel Prize in
Early life and academic career Economics (2020)

Wilson was born on May 16, 1937, in Geneva, Nebraska. He Scientific career
graduated from Lincoln High School in Lincoln, Nebraska and Fields Economist
earned a full scholarship to Harvard University. He received his Management
A.B. from Harvard College in 1959. He then completed his
science
M.B.A. in 1961 and his D.B.A.[12] in 1963 from the Harvard
Business School.[13] He worked at the University of California, Institutions Stanford University
Los Angeles for a very brief time and then joined the faculty at Thesis A simplicial algorithm
Stanford University. He has been on the faculty of the Stanford for concave
Business School since 1964.[13] He was also an affiliated faculty programming (http://i
member of Harvard Law School from 1993 to 2001.[14] d.lib.harvard.edu/alm
a/990048481930203
Research 941/catalog) (1963)
Doctoral Howard Raiffa
Wilson is known for research and teaching on market design, advisor
pricing, negotiation, and related topics concerning industrial
Doctoral Claude d'Aspremont
organization and information economics. He is an expert on game
theory and its applications. He has been a major contributor to students Lynden
auction designs and competitive bidding strategies in the oil, Peter Cramton
communication, and power industries, and to the design of Robert Gibbons
Benjamin Golub
Bengt R. Holmström
innovative pricing schemes. His work on pricing of priority service Matthew O. Jackson
for electric power has been implemented in the utility Paul Milgrom
industry.[8][15] Jean-Pierre
Ponssard
Wilson's 1968 Econometrica paper The Theory of the
Robert W. Rosenthal
Syndicates[16] influenced a whole generation of economics,
Alvin E. Roth
finance, and accounting students. The paper poses a fundamental
question: Under what conditions does the expected utility Yuliy Sannikov[1]
representation describe the behavior of a group of individuals who
choose lotteries and share risk in a Pareto-optimal way?[16][17]

He has published about a hundred articles in professional journals and books since completing his
education. He has been an associate editor of several journals, and delivered several public lectures.[18][14]

In 1993, Wilson published a book on Nonlinear Pricing.[19] It is an encyclopedic analysis of tariff design
and related topics for public utilities, including power, communications, and transport.[10] The book won
the 1995 Leo Melamed Prize, a prize awarded biannually by the University of Chicago for "outstanding
scholarship by a business professor."[20]

Other contributions to game theory includes wage bargaining and strikes, and in legal contexts, settlement
negotiations. He has authored some of the basic studies of reputational effects in predatory pricing, price
wars, and other competitive battles.[15]

Honors
Since Wilson completed the Bachelor, Master's, and Doctoral Degrees at Harvard College and the Harvard
Business School, he has published about 100 articles in professional journals and books, for which he has
received many honors.[21]

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Wilson and Paul Milgrom as the co-recipients of the
2020 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for having "improved auction theory and invented new auction
formats, beneftting sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world".[3] Alvin Roth (an economist who was
a co-recipient of the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize and who had Wilson as his doctoral advisor) said that
Wilson and Milgrom "haven't just profoundly changed the way we understand auctions  – they have
changed how things are auctioned." [22] Specifically, the Academy acknowledged Wilson's efforts in
analyzing common value auctions, where bidders derive a common value from the underlying resource,
and his theoretical proofs that bidders tend to bid lower than their best estimates of common value, in order
to avoid the winner's curse. Some examples of common value auctions include radio frequency spectrum,
and minerals.[23]

Memberships and awards

He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, a designated 'distinguished fellow' of the
American Economic Association, and a fellow, former officer and Council member of the Econometric
Society. He was conferred an honorary Doctor of Economics degree in 1986 by the Norwegian School of
Economics and Business Administration. In 1995, he was conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by
the University of Chicago.[8] In 2014, Wilson won a Golden Goose Award for his work involving auction
design.[24]

He has won the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2015) in the Economics, Finance and
Management category for his "pioneering contributions to the analysis of strategic interactions when
economic agents have limited and different information about their environment".[25] With colleagues
David M. Kreps and Paul Milgrom, he was awarded the 2018 John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of
Science.[26]

See also
Wilson doctrine (economics)

References
1. "Robert Wilson" (https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=130034).
Mathematics Genealogy Project. Retrieved October 13, 2021.}
2. Charles Riley (October 12, 2020). "Nobel Prize in economics awarded to Paul Milgrom and
Robert Wilson" (https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/business/nobel-prize-economics/index.ht
ml). CNN. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201012120239/https://www.cnn.com/202
0/10/12/business/nobel-prize-economics/index.html) from the original on October 12, 2020.
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3. "The Prize in Economic Sciences 2020" (https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2020/09/press-
economicsciences2020.pdf) (PDF) (Press release). Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
October 12, 2020. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201012212052/https://www.nobe
lprize.org/uploads/2020/09/press-economicsciences2020.pdf) (PDF) from the original on
October 12, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
4. Riley, Charles (October 12, 2020). "Nobel Prize in economics awarded to Paul Milgrom and
Robert Wilson for auction theory" (https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/business/nobel-prize-ec
onomics/index.html). CNN.
5. "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2012" (http
s://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2012/summary/). NobelPrize.org.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201013221809/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/e
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Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20161010213504/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_pri
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8. "Robert Wilson" (https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/robert-wilson).
Stanford Graduate School of Business. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201018181
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 9. Roth, Alvin E.; Wilson, Robert B. (August 1, 2019). "How Market Design Emerged from
Game Theory: A Mutual Interview" (https://doi.org/10.1257%2Fjep.33.3.118). Journal of
Economic Perspectives. 33 (3): 118–143. doi:10.1257/jep.33.3.118 (https://doi.org/10.1257%
2Fjep.33.3.118). ISSN 0895-3309 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0895-3309).
10. "Nonlinear Pricing" (https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/books/nonlinear-pricing).
Stanford Graduate School of Business. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20200513124
559/https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/books/nonlinear-pricing) from the original
on May 13, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
11. Wilson, Robert (2002). "Architecture of Power Markets" (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ab
s/10.1111/1468-0262.00334). Econometrica. 70 (4): 1299–1340. doi:10.1111/1468-
0262.00334 (https://doi.org/10.1111%2F1468-0262.00334). ISSN 1468-0262 (https://www.w
orldcat.org/issn/1468-0262). Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201018181026/https://
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1468-0262.00334) from the original on October 18,
2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
12. Wilson, Robert Butler (1963). Some Theory and Methods of Mathematical Programming
(Ph.D. thesis). Harvard University. OCLC 229908216 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/229908
216). ProQuest 302254825 (https://search.proquest.com/docview/302254825).
13. "RobertWilson" (https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/robert-wilson).
Stanford University. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201012212102/https://www.gs
b.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/robert-wilson) from the original on October 12, 2020.
Retrieved October 12, 2020.
14. "GSB Faculty - Robert Wilson" (https://gsb-faculty.stanford.edu/robert-wilson/files/2019/12/wi
lsonrobert-cv-bytopic-july_2018.pdf) (PDF). Graduate School of Business - Faculty. Archived
(https://web.archive.org/web/20201018181024/https://gsb-faculty.stanford.edu/robert-wilson/f
iles/2019/12/wilsonrobert-cv-bytopic-july_2018.pdf) (PDF) from the original on October 18,
2020. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
15. "Robert Wilson | SIEPR" (https://siepr.stanford.edu/events/speakers/robert-wilson).
siepr.stanford.edu. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20191213084007/https://siepr.stanf
ord.edu/events/speakers/robert-wilson) from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved
October 18, 2020.
16. Wilson, Robert (1968). "The Theory of Syndicates". Econometrica. 36 (1): 119–132.
doi:10.2307/1909607 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1909607). JSTOR 1909607 (https://www.j
stor.org/stable/1909607).
17. Eliashberg, Jehoshua; Winkler, Robert L. (November 1, 1981). "Risk Sharing and Group
Decision Making" (https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.27.11.1221).
Management Science. 27 (11): 1221–1235. doi:10.1287/mnsc.27.11.1221 (https://doi.org/10.
1287%2Fmnsc.27.11.1221). ISSN 0025-1909 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0025-1909).
18. "Professor Robert Wilson -- Resume" (https://web.stanford.edu/~rwilson/wilsonr.htm).
web.stanford.edu. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201018181148/https://web.stanfo
rd.edu/~rwilson/wilsonr.htm) from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 18,
2020.
19. Wilson, Robert B. (1993). Nonlinear Pricing (https://books.google.com/books?id=L_GadnJfZ
akC). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511582-6. Archived (https://web.archive.org/w
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20. MSRI. "Mathematical Sciences Research Institute" (http://www.msri.org/). www.msri.org.
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21. "Robert Wilson" (https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/robert-wilson).
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22. Smialek, Jeanna (October 12, 2020). "U.S. Auction Theorists Win the 2020 Nobel in
Economics: Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson were honored for work that has pushed
auctions into new and useful territory" (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/business/nobel-
economics-paul-milgrom-robert-wilson.html). The New York Times. Archived (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20201013002322/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/business/nobel-econo
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October 13, 2020.
23. "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2020" (http
s://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2020/press-release/). NobelPrize.org.
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24. "Auction Design" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150909231630/http://www.goldengooseaw
ard.org/awardees/2014/12/4/2014-auction-design). The Golden Goose Award. Archived from
the original (http://www.goldengooseaward.org/awardees/2014/12/4/2014-auction-design)
on September 9, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
25. "The BBVA Foundation Award goes to Robert Wilson for his pioneering analysis of
economic interactions under information asymmetry, and his broadening of the field to
include reputation-building as a spur to cooperation" (http://www.frontiersofknowledgeaward
s-fbbva.es/the-bbva-foundation-award-goes-to-robert-wilson-for-his-pioneering-analysis-of-e
conomic-interactions-under-information-asymmetry-and-his-broadening-of-the-field-to-includ
e-reputation-building-as-sp/). Premios Fronteras (in Spanish). June 5, 2017. Archived (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20201018181032/https://www.frontiersofknowledgeawards-fbbva.e
s/the-bbva-foundation-award-goes-to-robert-wilson-for-his-pioneering-analysis-of-economic-
interactions-under-information-asymmetry-and-his-broadening-of-the-field-to-include-reputati
on-building-as-sp/) from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
26. University, Stanford (October 12, 2020). "Stanford economists Paul Milgrom and Robert
Wilson win the Nobel in economic sciences" (https://news.stanford.edu/2020/10/12/stanford-
economists-paul-milgrom-robert-wilson-win-nobel-economic-sciences/). Stanford News.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201015040038/https://news.stanford.edu/2020/10/1
2/stanford-economists-paul-milgrom-robert-wilson-win-nobel-economic-sciences/) from the
original on October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.

External links
Personal web page (http://faculty-gsb.stanford.edu/wilson/index.html)
"Curriculum Vitae of Robert B. Wilson" (https://faculty-gsb.stanford.edu/wilson/CV/Wilson,Ro
bert-CV-Chronological-January%202014.pdf) (PDF). Stanford University. Retrieved
January 21, 2018.
Robert B. Wilson (https://mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=130034) at the Mathematics
Genealogy Project
Robert B. Wilson (https://www.nobelprize.org/laureate/996) on Nobelprize.org

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