2 Stanford economists win Nobel prize for auction theory

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two American economists have won the Nobel Prize for improving the theory of how auctions work and inventing new and better auction formats that are now woven into many parts of the economy. The Nobel Committee said the discoveries of Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson have benefitted sellers, buyers and taxpayers. Both economists are based at Stanford University. The university has said their work is credited with shaping the entire modern telecommunications industry after they developed a new format for the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s radio spectrum auctions in 1994. Monday’s award caps off this year’s Nobel prizes and is technically known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.