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
(meta data) TITLE: Robert Wilson | Stanford Graduate School of Business Skip to main content Enter the terms you wish to search for. Robert Wilson ## You are here Faculty & Research › Faculty › Robert Wilson # Robert Wilson Professor Emeritus, EconomicsContact Info RobertWilsonAcademic Area: Economics ## Research Statement Robert Wilson studies game theory and its applications to business and economics. His research and teaching focus on market design, pricing, negotiation, and related topics concerning industrial organization and information economics. He has been a major contributor to auction designs and competitive bidding strategies in the oil, communication, and power industries, and to the design of innovative pricing schemes. ## Bio Robert Wilson is the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management, Emeritus, at the Stanford Business School, where he has been on the faculty since 1964. His research and teaching are on market design, pricing, negotiation, and related topics concerning industrial organization and information economics. He is an expert on game theory and its applications. Dr. Wilson has been a major contributor to auction designs and competitive bidding strategies in the oil, communication, and power industries, and to the design of innovative pricing schemes. His work on pricing of priority service for electric power has been implemented in the utility industry. His book on Nonlinear Pricing (Oxford Press, 1993) is an encyclopedic analysis of tariff design and related topics for public utilities, including power, communications, and transport; it won the 1995 Leo Melamed Prize, awarded biannually by the University of Chicago for "outstanding scholarship by a business professor." His work on 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. He has published approximately 100 articles in professional journals and books since completing the Bachelor, Master's, and Doctoral degrees at Harvard College and the Harvard Business School. He has been an associate editor of several journals, and delivered several public lectures. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow, former officer and Council member of the Econometric Society. The Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration conferred an honorary Doctor of Economics degree in 1986, and the University of Chicago, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1995. On problems of pricing strategy, he has advised the U.S. Department of the Interior and oil companies (on bidding for offshore leases), the Electric Power Research Institute (on pricing of electric power, design of priority service systems, design of wholesale markets, funding of basic research, and risk analysis of environmental hazards and climate change), and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (on pricing product lines in high technology industries) With Paul Milgrom he designed for Pacific Bell the auction of spectrum licenses adopted by the FCC, and subsequently worked on the bidding strategy team, and later for other firms. He contributed to the designs of the power exchange and auctions of ancillary services in California, and he has continued to advise EPRI; the California Power Exchange; the California, New England, and Ontario System Operators; the Canadian Competition Bureau; Energy Ministries of several countries; and others involved in the design of auctions for electricity, power and gas transmission, and telecommunications in the U.S.A. and elsewhere. His designs of other auctions have been adopted by private firms. He has been an expert witness on antitrust and securities matters. ## Academic Degrees D.Laws (Honorary), University of Chicago, 1995D.Economics (Honorary), Norwegian School of Economics, 1986DBA, Harvard University, 1963MBA, Harvard University, 1961AB, Harvard University, 1959 ## Academic Appointments At Stanford University since 1964Director, Stanford Institute of Theoretical Economics, 1993-1995 ## Awards and Honors John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Sciences, 2018Designated Distinguished Fellow, The American Economic Association, 2006 PhD Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award, Stanford University, 2001 Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences, 1994 ## Publications ## Journal Articles Global Newton Method for Stochastic Games Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson. Journal of Economic Theory. January 2009, Vol. 144, Issue 1, Pages 414-421. Sufficient Conditions for Stable Equilibria Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson. Theoretical Economics. 2006, Vol. 1, Issue 2, Pages 167-206. Essential Equilibria Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2005, Vol. 102, Issue 43, Pages 15706–15711. Bargaining with Private Information John Kennan, Robert Wilson. Journal of Economic Literature. 1993, Vol. 31, Issue 1, Pages 45-104. Foundations of Dynamic Monopoly and the Coase Conjecture Faruk Gul, Hugo Sonnenschein, Robert Wilson. Journal of Economic Theory. 1986, Vol. 39, Issue 1, Pages 155-190. Sequential Equilibrium David M. Kreps, Robert Wilson. Econometrica. 1982, Vol. 50, Pages 863-894. ## Books Nonlinear Pricing Robert Wilson Oxford Press, 1993. ## Working Papers Competition for a Majority | Paulo Barelli, Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2013 Axiomatic Equilibrium Selection for Generic Two-Player Games | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2011 Existence of Equilibria in All-Pay Auctions | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2010 Existence of Equilibria in Auctions with Interdependent Values: Two Symmetic Bidders | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2010 Existence of Equilibria in Auctions with Private Values | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2010 Axiomatic Theory of Equilibrium Selection for Games with Two Players, Perfect Information, and Generic Payoffs | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2009 Efficient Intertemporal Allocation of Risk and Return | Robert Wilson, Eiichiro Kazumori2009 Axiomatic Theory of Equilibrium Selection in Signaling Games with Generic Payoffs | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2008 Computing Equilibria of N-Player Games with Arbitrary Accuracy | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2008 Decision-Theoretic Forward Induction | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2008 A Decomposition Algorithm for N-Player Games | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2007 Metastable Equilibria | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2007 On Forward Induction | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2007 Supply Function Equilibrium in a Constrained Transmission System | Robert Wilson2007 Stable Outcomes of Generic Games in Extensive Form | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2006 Essential Equilibria Robert Wilson, Srihari Govindan2005 Justification of Stable Equilibria | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2005 Refinements of Nash Equilibrium | Srihari Govindan, Robert Wilson2005 Architecture of Power Markets Robert Wilson2001 Pricing a Product Line Robert Wilson, Shmuel Oren, Stephen Smith1983 Rational Cooperation in the Finitely-Repeated Prisoners' Dilemma David M. Kreps, Paul R. Milgrom, Robert Wilson, John Roberts1981 On The Chain-Store Paradox and Predation: Reputation for Toughness | David M. Kreps, Robert Wilson1980 Sequential Equilibria David M. Kreps, Robert Wilson1980 Management and Financing of Exploration Robert Wilson1977 The Loss in Revenue From a Share Auction | Robert Wilson1977 ## Teaching ## Degree Courses ### 2019-20 MGTECON 601: Microeconomic Analysis II This course studies the roles of information, incentives and strategic behavior in markets. The rudiments of game theory are developed and applied to selected topics regarding auctions, bargaining, and firms' competitive strategies; information... MGTECON 608: Multiperson Decision Theory Students and faculty review and present recent research papers on basic theories and economic applications of decision theory, game theory and mechanism design. Applications include market design and analyses of incentives and strategic behavior... ### 2018-19 MGTECON 601: Microeconomic Analysis II This course studies the roles of information, incentives and strategic behavior in markets. The rudiments of game theory are developed and applied to selected topics regarding auctions, bargaining, and firms' competitive strategies; information... MGTECON 608: Multiperson Decision Theory Students and faculty review and present recent research papers on basic theories and economic applications of decision theory, game theory and mechanism design. Applications include market design and analyses of incentives and strategic behavior... ### 2017-18 MGTECON 601: Microeconomic Analysis II This course studies the roles of information, incentives and strategic behavior in markets. The rudiments of game theory are developed and applied to selected topics regarding auctions, bargaining, and firms' competitive strategies; information... MGTECON 608: Multiperson Decision Theory Students and faculty review and present recent research papers on basic theories and economic applications of decision theory, game theory and mechanism design. Applications include market design and analyses of incentives and strategic behavior... ## Stanford Case Studies Red Brand Canners | Robert Wilson1965 ## Stanford University Affiliations ### Greater Stanford University Director, Stanford Institute of Theoretical Economics, 1993-95 ## School News writtenEconomist James E. Howell, 91, Transformed Modern-Day Management Education April 5, 2019 Credited with helping to turn Stanford GSB into a model of academic excellence in the 1970s, he profoundly changed business schools around the world. writtenThe Future of Economics March 28, 2018 Three award-winning economists talk about where the field has been and where it's heading. writtenStanford Economists Kreps, Wilson, Milgrom Honored with 2018 National Academy of Sciences Carty Prize January 17, 2018 David Kreps, Paul Milgrom, and Robert Wilson have been honored for their pioneering work using game theory to help solve real-world problems. writtenDavid Kreps: Master of Economic Modeling February 27, 2017 A recent two-day symposium celebrated the depth and breadth of impact by faculty member David Kreps in choice theory, finance, game theory, economics. writtenEconomics Professor Robert Wilson Honored With the BBVA Foundation 2016 Frontiers of Knowledge Award February 16, 2016 His research on market design, pricing, negotiation, and related topics concerning industrial organization and information economics broke new ground.
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