The Surprising Science of Match-Making
Good Life Project
Jonathan Fields / Acast
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 June 2015
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Want a job at Google, a gorgeous hideaway on Airbnb, a spot on the Stanford faculty, a romantic partner or even a kidney?
Good news, bad news. You have a say, but so do they.
It's all part of a phenomenon called "matching markets."
Markets are what make businesses possible. But not all markets operate on the exchange of cash for goods. In fact, some of the most important markets go so far as to outlaw cash. In other markets, like romance, many societies just find cash morally repugnant. And, no matter how much you may want something, there's another person who'll have a say in whether you get it.
When you understand these often complex and hidden markets, the nuanced rules and games that get played, you end up in a better place to both get what you need from them and give more effectively to those you seek to serve.
That's what we're talking about in this week's conversation with Nobel Prize-winning economist, Stanford professor and author of the fascinating new book, Who Gets What - and Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design, Al Roth.
This discussion pulls back the curtain on why we are willing to do so much, for one thing, person or opportunity and yet so little for another and how that is redefining our options, how they are presented, and how much control we really have over any of it.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The ideas of what's a thing and what isn't, these aren't things that are fixed forever. |
| 0:07.6 | They're things that can change, but how they change is a little bit of a mystery. |
| 0:12.2 | And the fact that they can change doesn't mean that they aren't enormously powerful at any given moment. |
| 0:20.2 | There's this really interesting thing that happens when you're trying to find the right person, |
| 0:25.2 | the right job, the right college to get into. |
| 0:29.6 | You may have a really good idea of what lights you up. |
| 0:32.4 | You may feel like there's a total connection, but it's not entirely up to you. |
| 0:37.7 | There's got to be this magical meshing where you light up and they light up. |
| 0:43.1 | And together you both say yes. |
| 0:46.0 | This is a phenomenon called matching markets. |
| 0:49.2 | And in today's conversation, we're sitting down with Al Roth, |
| 0:53.1 | Nobel Prize-winning economist and professor who's been studying these markets, |
| 0:58.4 | and we dive into some really fascinating, sometimes, |
| 1:01.4 | but would seem like irrational parts of these markets. |
| 1:04.4 | How they exist around us all day long and control so many of the decisions that we make |
| 1:09.7 | and what we can learn about the way that these markets interact |
| 1:14.0 | and how we can get the most out of our interactions with them. |
| 1:18.1 | I'm Jonathan Fields. This is Good Life Project. |
| 1:22.8 | Freetom is a spontaneous day at the beach. |
| 1:32.3 | A weekend away with friends. |
| 1:35.3 | Freetom is Zip Car. |
| 1:38.3 | With Zip Car, you can get a car or van exactly when and where you need one. |
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