Eric Maskin

Eric Maskin has a strong mathematical background, having earned his B.S. in Mathematics and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the prestigious Harvard University, where he was a disciple of Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow. Throughout his academic career, he has held positions at elite institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, before returning to Harvard in 2012 as Adams University Professor.

The work that won him the Nobel Prize focused on laying the foundations of Mechanism Design Theory, which can be considered the "engineering" branch of economics. This theory addresses the fundamental question of when and how it is possible to design institutions, rules or "games" that lead to desired outcomes, even when participants act selfishly, seeking to maximize their own benefit, and when there is incomplete or asymmetric information.

Maskin's most notable contribution is the development of Implementation Theory. This theory is concerned with designing a mechanism (a set of rules) in such a way that any possible outcome that is achieved is socially optimal, ensuring that participants have incentives to reveal their true information and act in a way that most benefits the whole. Maskin showed that the "Maskin monotonicity" condition is key for a social rule to be implemented using the Nash Equilibrium concept in Game Theory.

His research has been a turning point, demonstrating the limitations of Adam Smith's traditional "invisible hand," pointing out that in real markets (with imperfect competition and incomplete information) careful design is needed. His developments are applied in areas as diverse as auction design, economic regulation, contract theory, and social choice, including voting methods that promote democratic values.