Platforms and Internet market design

电子商务是全球经济增长最快的行业之一。中国正在以惊人的速度提高市场效率，释放未充分利用的生产力，扩大市场。这一划时代发展的基础是两大支柱：计算能力和市场创新。这两者相互支持，相互挑战，在计算机科学和经济学之间创造了一个新兴的跨学科领域。我在算法博弈论方面的研究旨在贡献成果并培养学生在解决经济问题的计算方法和可以在互联网市场中找到应用的创新市场设计方面推动前沿。******该项目的第一个重点是在复杂环境中设计和分析强大的市场机制。非传统的定价机制，如大规模频繁的拍卖和动态定价，是主要互联网市场的显著特征。除了优化这些机制的计算挑战外，它们的鲁棒性也至关重要，无论是对观察到的市场数据的反应，还是对市场参与者的策略制定。在我现有的成功应用近似算法技术来解决市场设计问题的工作基础上，我计划进一步结合机器学习技术来增强对这些机制的理论理解。******我的第二个关注点是由被称为平台的市场产生的经济和计算问题。平台使其他两组代理之间的交易成为可能，通常在双方之间享有规模经济。亚马逊的第三方市场、优步（Uber）和Airbnb就是这样的例子；他们在电子商务中扮演着越来越重要的角色。我现有的一些工作是理解这些市场中的设计问题的先驱，我在加州理工学院教授的一门课程是第一批关注这些市场的课程之一。在一个正在进行的项目中，我与一家创业公司合作，了解平台上的匹配机制以及这些市场中的算法定价现象。这些项目的成功不仅可以为平台的设计提供信息，还可以提供有助于塑造这些市场的公众讨论的见解。******除了这项工作可能对研究界和工业界产生的直接影响外，这项研究还将为研究生和本科生提供重要的培训。它将培养具有推理计算系统技能和经验的高素质人才，并拥有经济洞察力。这些技能将被证明是加拿大发展知识型经济的主要资产。

The e-commerce is one of the fastest growing sectors in global economies. At an extraordinary speed, it is boosting market efficiency, releasing underutilized productive forces, and expanding the markets. Two pillars are at the base of this epoch-making development: computational powers and market innovations. These two lend support and pose challenges to each other, creating a burgeoning interdisciplinary area between Computer Science and Economics. My research in Algorithmic Game Theory aims to contribute results and train students to push the frontiers both in computational methods for solving economic problems and in innovative market design that can find applications in Internet marketplaces.******The first focus of the project is on designing and analyzing robust market mechanisms in complex environments. Non-traditional pricing mechanisms, such as large-scale frequent auctions and dynamic pricing, are salient features in major Internet marketplaces. Besides computational challenges to optimize such mechanisms, also crucial is their robustness, both in their reaction to observed market data and in incorporating strategizing on the part of the market participants. Building on my existing work that successfully applies approximation algorithm techniques to tackle problems in market design, I plan to further combine techniques from machine learning to enhance theoretical understanding on these mechanisms.******My second focus is on economic and computational problems arising from marketplaces known as platforms. Platforms enable transactions between two other groups of agents, typically enjoying an economy of scale across the two sides. Amazon's third-party market, Uber and Airbnb are some such examples; they are playing an increasingly important role in the e-commerce. Some of my existing work pioneers in understanding design issues in such markets, and a course I taught at Caltech is among the first to focus on these markets. In an ongoing project, I collaborate with a startup company to understand the matching mechanisms on platforms and the phenomenon of algorithmic pricing in these markets. The success of such projects not only could inform the design of platforms, but may also provide insights that help shape public discussions on these markets.******Besides the immediate impacts this work could have within the research community and on the industry, this research will provide key training to graduate and undergraduate students. It will produce highly-qualified personnel with skills and experience in reasoning computational systems armed with economic insights. These skills will prove to be a major asset in the expansion of Canada's growing knowledge-based economy.