Centre for Market Design
We produce innovative microeconomic research and form partnerships with industry and governments to deliver value to society.
The Centre for Market Design is a research hub with expertise in microeconomics, hosted by the University of Melbourne.
Latest news and research
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The economics of COVID-19
Policymakers need a new roadmap for navigating the balance between managing a pandemic and supporting the economy, and setting criteria and targets for action can help
Research -
The economics of COVID-19
Policymakers need a new roadmap for navigating the balance between managing a pandemic and supporting the economy, and setting criteria and targets for action can help.
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CMD Research Student Wins 2019 Professor Wilson Prize
Congratulations to Bing Liu for winning the 2019 Professor Wilson Prize.
Announcements -
Cutting the commute for students with a disability
How market design theory, or ‘experimental economics’, and specialist software helped reform travel services for students with disability.
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The big nudge: adopting COVID-19 tracing app
The government can turn to behavioural economics to support its COVID-19 tracing app, say David Byrne, Joshua Miller and UNSW's Richard Holden on Crikey.
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Average fuel prices to fluctuate
Australians can expect continued fluctuation in petrol prices as oil prices move during the COVID-19 pandemic, Associate Professor David Byrne tells The Age.
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Turning to markets to manage COVID-19
CMD Advisory Board member, Associate Professor Scott Kominers, talks about how markets can manage supply of vital medical devices during COVID-19.
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Oil wars, petrol prices and COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic and global oil price wars are having an economic impact worldwide, but one consequence is lower fuel prices at Australian petrol pumps for the foreseeable future.
Research
Upcoming Events
The Centre for Market Design's research is published in top-ranking generalist and leading field journals.
Our team includes outstanding young economists specialising in research in economic theory, structural econometrics and experimental economics, who partner with peers in Australia and worldwide to drive innovation in the field of market design.
We also support workshops, mini-schools, conferences and academic visitors.
The Centre for Market Design applies game theory, information economics and incentive design to policy and industry problems.
We connect leading academics with real-world policy problems to design, test and implement tailor-made solutions. We develop mechanisms that help government and industry make positive changes using robust economic design tools.
See a full list of our partnerships with government, industry and universities.
Latest projects
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Border Biosecurity
The CMD is focusing on incentives to improve Australia’s biosecurity system.
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Waste Sector Reform
Economic design methodology will assist Infrastructure Victoria to identify options to manage waste and recycling policy.
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Biodiversity Offsets Scheme
A smart market is being designed for the New South Wales Government’s Biodiversity Offset Scheme.
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Youth Justice
A joint field experiment is underway to evaluate the effectiveness of non-custodial interventions for young offenders.
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Improving Transport for Students with Disability
Travel times by students with autism at a northern Melbourne school have been cut by half as a result of a CMD pilot project.
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Power Changers
Associate Professor David Byrne has been instrumental in designing and evaluating a trial to help households reduce power use.
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Analysing third-party comparison websites
The Centre for Market Design is undertaking an investigation into the role, effectiveness and value of third-party price comparison websites in the Australian electricity market.
Our programs use specialised tailored pathways to offer opportunities for government and industry professionals to extend their understanding of how economic design principles and mechanisms can improve a range of procurement and other resource allocation decisions.
Current programs
We work closely with state and commonwealth government agencies, researchers from local and international universities, and organisations with an interest in market design research and applications.
We share knowledge and promote market design solutions for procurement, also partnering with industry and the community to problem solve.
Our team continues to provide fiscal, efficient and engagement outcomes for its stakeholders and plans to increase contractual work by developing new strategic partnerships.
Please contact the CMD office to discuss potential partnerships.
The Centre for Market Design (CMD) was established in 2012 as a consortium of Federal and Victorian Treasury departments and the University of Melbourne, to partner with industry, government and university peers to produce innovative economic research.
It became a University research centre in 2018.
We use mechanism design, auction theory, matching markets, experimental economics, and structural econometrics to find solutions to public policy, procurement and resource allocation problems.
We work closely with state and commonwealth government agencies, researchers from local and international universities, and organisations with an interest in market design research and applications, to share knowledge and find solutions.