Two American economists - Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson- from Stanford University won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
The duo won the award for improving how auctions work, research that underlies much of today's economy - from the way Google sells advertising to the way telecoms companies acquire airwaves from the government.
Wilson was once Milgrom's PhD adviser, and the two also happen to be neighbours.
The Nobel committee calls the winners before announcing the names to the world each year. However, when they tried to reach Milgrom it was middle of the night in California.
And when Milgrom couldn't be reached, his neighbour -- and fellow prize winner -- Robert Wilson stepped up and walked over to Milgrom's house.
Robert Wilson knocked on Paul R. Milgrom's door in the middle of the night to tell him that they have won a Nobel Prize. When Robert Wilson rang Paul Milgrom's doorbell at 2:15 this morning, Milgrom's wife, who's in Stockholm, received a security-camera notification on her phone. She got to watch live as Wilson told Milgrom he'd won the
Check out the video here:
Technically known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, the award was established in 1969 and is now widely considered one of the Nobel prizes.
The two men tackled the tricky problem of making auctions work efficiently. The committee said Wilson's work showed "why rational bidders tend to place bids below their own best estimate of the common value." The effects of their work can be seen all around.
(with inputs from PTI)
