「中央研究院講座」

Academia Sinica Lecture

Eric Maskin

中央研究院講座今年將邀請2007年諾貝爾經濟學獎得主，艾瑞克‧麥思金(Eric Maskin) 博士，於今年6月11 (週一) 於中央研究院發表一場演講，其主題為「金融危機：根源與因應之道」(“Financial Crises: Why They Occur and What to Do about Them”)。歡迎各界蒞臨聆聽。

　　麥思金博士目前任職於美國哈佛大學經濟系教授。他和Leonid Hurwicz教授、Roger B. Myerson教授共同為制度設計理論奠定基礎，他們專注於產業組織設計規劃、經濟活動的互動規則與流程、以及共同決策等創新研究而同獲諾貝爾獎的殊榮。制度設計理論為決策規劃者提供了普遍性與一致性的決策方法，為了達到既定的公平與效率之社會目標，並兼顧個人的利己動機而進行資源的有效分配。制度設計理論在眾多經濟學領域與部份政治及社會學領域裡扮演重要的角色，並在實際應用上，提供相當豐富的參考價值。近年來，導因於經濟全球化與網路交易的茁壯發展，促使傳統產業組織結構的式微及其創新型態需求日增，使得此理論更進一步拓展其應用範圍。

　　其次，麥思金博士在決策理論中亦扮演領導與先驅者之地位。決策理論為制度設計理論中相當重要的一環，針對消費者偏好均衡與劣等性均衡同時並存的潛在危機做深入探討；在既存的社會決策系統裡，此理論藉由設計嶄新的制度、以達成符合社會最佳化選擇及分配的均衡結果。除了純學術的成果之外，麥思金博士同時也對制度設計理論的應用做出卓越貢獻，包括競價拍賣、獨佔、與社會選擇理論及其研究方法等等。

　　麥思金博士於西元1950年12月12日出生於紐約，之後在紐澤西州成長。在1968年從紐澤西州田納西高中畢業之後，隨即在咍佛大學取得數學系學位與應用數學博士。在田納西高中時期，他有幸地遇見幾位熱心奉獻的教師，尤其是法蘭西斯‧皮耶爾沙(Francis Piersa)老師激發了他對於數學的濃厚興趣。因為這位高中教師，他在哈佛決心主修數學，並和同學Pierre Samuel、Richard Brauer研讀代數，和George Mackey、Lars Ahlfors一同做研究。機緣巧合之下，他研修了一門由Kenneth Arrow教授所開設的「資訊經濟學」，該課程雖涵蓋了經濟學的嶄新領域，但大部分仍著眼於Leonid Hurwicz的制度設計理論。這對他影響甚深：該理論不僅涵蓋了純數學的精準與嚴謹之美，同時也強調應用於實際社會議題之重要，兩者的兼容令他著迷。事實上，他最後是完成了經濟學博士學位，雖然該學位名義上隸屬於應用數學。他認為，他能早先一步在制度設計理論正啟蒙發展階段就進入該領域鑽研，並與該領域的優秀師友、同儕一起研究，是何其榮幸。畢竟，在這個許多人不喜歡自己工作的世界裡，對於能終日鑽研自己的研究興趣，他感到何其幸運。麥思金教授的學生們都一致景仰他的學識淵博、仁慈和對教學的高度熱忱，也對他的文思敏捷、還有將複雜數學變得明瞭易懂的教學技巧極為讚賞。

                 中央研究院講座演講

講　題：金融危機：根源與因應之道

        (“Financial Crises: Why They Occur and What to Do about Them”)

日　期：2012年6月11日(星期一) 15:00至16:30

地　點：中央研究院人文社會科學館三樓國際會議廳

　　 　 台北市南港區研究院路二段128號

主講者：美國哈佛大學經濟系　艾瑞克‧麥思金(Eric Maskin)教授

主持人：中央研究院　翁啟惠院長　

Abstract:

   The recent financial crisis is only the latest one in a long sequence. The history of financial crises goes back to centuries, with the most famous one being the 1711 South See Bubble. Probably financial crisis will continue to occur in the future. With each crisis being somewhat different from its predecessors, it may not be desirable to try to prevent all crises. However, we can do much better at limiting crises. In the lecture professor Maskin will discuss the reasons behind financial crises from the perspective of economic theory. In particular he will address issues: (1) Why does credit market have repeated crises and other markets do not? (2) Why does credit market require substantial ex post intervention and others do not? (3) What can be done ex ante to prevent or limit crises?

網路報名：http://iao.sinica.edu.tw/ASL/index.html

Dr. Eric Maskin, one of the three 2007 Nobel Laureates in Economics, will deliver two lectures at Academia Sinica on June 11 and 12. The lectures are entitled “Financial Crises: Why They Occur and What to Do about Them” and “Elections and Strategic Voting: Condorcet and Borda.” Members of the media and the public are welcome to attend these lectures.

Dr. Maskin is currently professor of Economics at Harvard University. He was awarded the Nobel Prize, jointly with Leonid Hurwicz and Roger B. Myerson, for laying the foundations of mechanism design theory, which concerns the design of institutional arrangements, rules and procedures for economic activity and collective decision-making. Mechanism design theory provides general methods for designing rules, which result in resource allocation that meet a given social goal, despite the fact that individuals act in their own interest. The theory of mechanism design currently plays a major role in many areas of economics and in parts of political science, and has led to many fruitful applications. Its domain of application has expanded in recent years, due to globalization and growing internet trade, phenomena that impose new demands on old institutions.

In addition, Dr Maskin did pioneering work on implementation theory. It is the part of the theory of mechanism design which deals with the problem arising from the potential co-existence of inferior equilibria along with the desired ones. It solves the problem by designing a mechanism such that the equilibrium outcomes satisfy a criterion of social optimality embodied in a social choice rule. In addition, he has made numerous other important contributions, both to the pure theory of mechanism design and to its application to areas such as auctions, monopoly and social choice.

Professor Maskin was born in New York City on December 12, 1950, and grew up in Alpine, NewJersey, located 24 km northwest of Midtown Manhattan. He graduated from Tenafly High School inTenafly, New Jersey in 1968, and attended Harvard University where he received his A.B. in mathematics and Ph.D. in applied mathematics. While at Tenafly High, he was lucky to have some dedicated teachers, especially Francis Piersa, who inspired his interest in mathematics. Because his math teacher in Tenafly High, he came a math major at Harvard College, where he studied algebra with Pierre Samuel and Richard Brauer and analysis with George Mackey and Lars Ahlfors. Almost by accident, he wandered into a course on "information economics" taught by Professor Kenneth Arrow, later his Ph.D. advisor. The course covered topics in frontier of economic theory, but a major part of it was devoted to Leonid Hurwicz's work in mechanism design. This work was a revelation to him: it had the precision, rigor, and sometimes the beauty of pure mathematics and also addressed problems of real social importance − an irresistible combination. In fact, he ended up essentially doing an economics Ph.D. The degree was nominally in applied mathematics.

Prof. Eric Maskin thinks it was exceptionally lucky for him to have discovered economics in the first place, to have entered the field at a time when mechanism design was just beginning to bloom, and, most crucially, to have had a succession of remarkable teachers, students, colleagues, and friends in the profession. Finally, in a world where so many people dislike their jobs, he feels lucky to be spending his days working hard at something he loves. Maskin's former students were unanimous in their admiration of their professor's breadth of knowledge, kindness and dedication to teaching. Maskin's students also lauded him for his clarity, teaching skills and ability to make complex math problems understandable.

Lecture A

Title: “Financial Crises: Why They Occur and What to Do about Them”

Time: 15:00 – 16:30

Date: Tuesday, June 11, 2012

Venue: International Conference Hall, 3F, Humanities and Social Sciences  Building, Academia Sinica, No.128, Sec.2, Academia Road, Nangang District, Taipei City

Speaker: Dr. Eric Maskin, Professor of Economics, Harvard University

Moderator: Dr. Chi-Huey Wong, President, Academia Sinica

Lecture B

Title: “Elections and Strategic Voting: Condorcet and Borda”

Time: 9:10 – 10:10

Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2012

Venue: International Conference Hall, 3F, Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Academia Sinica, No.128, Sec.2, Academia Road, Nangang District, Taipei City

Speaker: Dr. Eric Maskin, Professor of Economics, Harvard University

Moderator: Dr. Ping Wang, Seigle Family Professor of Economics, Washington University in St Louis(Academician, Academia Sinica)

Online registration: http://iao.sinica.edu.tw/ASL/index.html