Research by Blueprint Labs director Parag Pathak on school assignment is featured prominently in scientific statement for the 2012 Nobel Prize in Economics. The prize was awarded to Alvin E. Roth and Lloyd S. Shapley “for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design.”
Market design ideas underlie much of SEII’s research agenda on school assignment. The prize statement concludes: “Using empirical, experimental and theoretical methods, Roth and his coauthors, including A. Abdulkadiroglu, P.A. Pathak, T. Sönmez and M.U. Ünver, have studied the institutions that improve market performance, thereby illuminating the need for stability and incentive compatibility. These contributions led directly to the successful redesign of a number of important real-world markets.”