Publications | Tayfun Sönmez

Refereed Journal Publications | Invited Publications

Refereed Journal Publications

“Deduction Dilemmas: The Taiwan Assignment Mechanism,” (joint with Umut Dur , Parag Pathak), and Fei Song). Forthcoming in AEJ: Microeconomics. [ PDF ]
“Covid-19: how to prioritize worse-off populations in allocating safe and effective vaccines,” (joint with Harald Schmidt, Parag Pathak and M Utku Ünver), British Medical Journal, 2020;371:m3795. [ PDF ]
“Incentivized Kidney Exchange,” (joint with Utku Ünver and M.Bumin Yenmez), American Economic Review, 110(7): 2198-2224, July 2020. [ PDF ] [ Online Appendix ]
“Efficient and Incentive-Compatible Liver Exchange,” (joint with Haluk Ergin and Utku Ünver), Econometrica, 88(3): 965-1005, May 2020. [ PDF ] [ Online Appendix ] [ Earlier Version with Simple 2-size Model ]
“Explicit vs. Statistical Targeting in Affirmative Action: Theory and Evidence from Chicago’s Exam Schools” (joint with Umut Dur and Parag Pathak), Journal of Economic Theory, 187, 104996, May 2020. [ PDF ]
“Reserve Design: Unintended Consequences and The Demise of Boston’s Walk Zones,” (joint with Umut Dur, Scott Duke Kominers, and Parag A. Pathak), Journal of Political Economy, 126(6), December 2018. [ PDF ] [ Testimony to Boston School Committee ] [ Related Op-ed ]
“How (Not) to Integrate Blood Subtyping Technology to Kidney Exchange,” (joint with Utku Ünver and Özgür Yilmaz), Journal of Economic Theory, 176: 193-231, July 2018. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]
“Dual-Donor Organ Exchange,” (joint with Haluk Ergin and Utku Ünver), Econometrica 85(5): 1645-1671, September 2017. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ] [ Supplemental Appendix ] [ Press Coverage ].
“School Choice Under Complete Information: An Experimental Study,” (joint with Yan Chen and Yingzhi Liang), Journal of Mechanism and Institution Design, 1(1): 45-82, December 2016.
“Matching with Slot-Specific Priorities: Theory,” (joint with Scott Duke Kominers), Theoretical Economics, 11(2), 683-710, May 2016. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]
“Kidney Exchange and the Alliance for Paired Donation: Operations Research Changes the Way Kidneys Are Transplanted,” (joint with Ross Anderson, Itai Ashlagi, David Gamarnik, Michael Rees, Alvin Roth and Utku Unver), INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, 45-1: 26-42, January-February 2015. [ Informs link ]
“Altruistically Unbalanced Kidney Exchange,” (joint with Utku Ünver), Journal of Economic Theory, 152: 105-129, July 1014. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]
“Matching with Contracts: Comment.” (joint with with Orhan Aygün), American Economic Review, 103(5): 2050-2051, August 2013. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ] [ Detailed Working Paper ]
“Matching with (Branch-of-Choice) Contracts at the United States Military Academy.” (joint with Tobias Switzer), Econometrica, 81(2): 451-488, March 2013. [ PDF ] [ Policy Impact ] [ Media ]
“School Admissions Reform in Chicago and England: Comparing Mechanisms by Their Vulnerability to Manipulation.” (joint with Parag Pathak), American Economic Review, 103(1): 80-106, February 2013. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ] [ Appendix ] Corrigendum for Proposition 3
- Corrigendum for Proposition 3
- Bonkoungou and Nesterov (2020)

“Bidding for Army Career Specialties: Improving the ROTC Branching Mechanism.” Journal of Political Economy, 121(1): 186-219, February 2013. [ PDF ] [ Policy Impact ] [ Media ]

“House Allocation with Existing Tenants: A Characterization.” (joint with Utku Ünver), Games and Economic Behavior, 69(2): 425-445, July 2010. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Course Bidding at Business Schools.” (joint with Utku Ünver), International Economic Review, 51(1): 99-123, Feb 2010. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Leveling the Playing Field: Sincere and Strategic Players in the Boston Mechanism.” (joint with Parag Pathak), American Economic Review, 98(4), 1636-1652, 2008. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Kidney Paired Donation with Compatible Pairs.” (joint with Alvin Roth and Utku Ünver), American Journal of Transplantation, 8(2):463, Feb 2008. [ PDF ]

“Efficient Kidney Exchange: Coincidence of Wants in Markets with Compatibility-Based Preferences.” (joint with Alvin Roth and Utku Ünver), American Economic Review, 97-3: 828-851, June 2007. [ PDF ] [Appendix] Media

“Cross-donor system planned for region’s kidney patients,” Boston Globe, 6/5/2004.
“Easing the Kidney Shortage,” Wall Street Journal, 6/17/2004. [ PDF ]
“OR Successes Run the Gamut, From Concrete to Kidneys,” SIAM News, 6/25/2004. [ PDF ]
“Kidney Exchange: A Life-Saving Application of Matching Theory,” National Science Foundation-Discoveries, 10/5/2005. [ PDF ]
“Flesh Trade,” Freakonomics, New York Times Magazine, 7/9/2006. [ PDF ]
“Paired donations give organ transplants a brighter future,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/9/2007. [ PDF ]
“Undercover Economist: Stakes in kidneys,” Financial Times, July 13, 2007. [ PDF ]
“A Market for Kidneys?” Wall Street Journal, 11/13/2007. [ PDF ]
“Kidney Exchange,” NBER Reporter, 11/13/2913.
“The Economics of Hope: Kidney Exchange,” The Boston College Chronicle, 03/03/2014. [ VIDEO ]
“Big Data’s Effect on Organ Transplant Wait Lists,” Mashable, 06/23/2014.
“From Research to Reward: Matching Kidney Donors with Those Who Need Them—and Other Explorations in Economics,” National Academy of Sciences. 2016. [ VIDEO ]
“How AI Changed Organ Donation in the US,” Quartz, 09/10/2018.
“Market Failure in Kidney Exchange,” VoxEU, 11/03/2018.
“Kidney Swaps Are Revolutionizing a Broken Organ-Donation System in the U.S.” Time, 11/05/2019.
“How an Economist Helped Thousands Get New a Kidney,” BBC, 12/17,2019.

“Utilizing List Exchange and Non-directed Donation through “Chain” Paired Kidney Donations.” (joint with Alvin Roth, Utku Ünver, Francis Delmonico and Susan Saidman), American Journal of Transplantation 6(11): 2694-2705, November 2006. [ PDF ]

“School Choice: An Experimental Study.” (joint with Yan Chen), Journal of Economic Theory, 127: 2002-231, March 2006. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ] [ Corrigendum ] Press Coverage

“School assignment flaws detailed. Two economists study problem, offer relief,” Boston Globe, 9/12/2003.

“Increasing the Opportunity of Live Kidney Donation by Matching for Two and Three Way Exchanges.” (joint with Susan Saidman, Alvin Roth, Utku Ünver and Francis Delmonico), Transplantation, 81(5): 773-782, March 15, 2006. [ PDF ]

“Games of School Choice under the Boston Mechanism” (joint with Haluk Ergin), Journal of Public Economics, 90: 215-237, January 2006. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Pairwise Kidney Exchange” (joint with Alvin Roth and Utku Ünver), Journal of Economic Theory, 125: 151-188, December 2005. [ PDF ] [ JET 50th Anniversary Special Issue ] Media

“Cross-donor system planned for region’s kidney patients,” Boston Globe, 6/5/2004.
“Easing the Kidney Shortage,” Wall Street Journal, 6/17/2004. [ PDF ]
“OR Successes Run the Gamut, From Concrete to Kidneys,” SIAM News, 6/25/2004. [ PDF ]
“Kidney Exchange: A Life-Saving Application of Matching Theory,” National Science Foundation-Discoveries, 10/5/2005. [ PDF ]
“Flesh Trade,” Freakonomics, New York Times Magazine, 7/9/2006. [ PDF ]
“Paired donations give organ transplants a brighter future,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/9/2007. [ PDF ]
“Undercover Economist: Stakes in kidneys,” Financial Times, July 13, 2007. [ PDF ]
“A Market for Kidneys?” Wall Street Journal, 11/13/2007. [ PDF ]
“Kidney Exchange,” NBER Reporter, 11/13/2913.
“The Economics of Hope: Kidney Exchange,” The Boston College Chronicle, 03/03/2014. [ VIDEO ]
“Big Data’s Effect on Organ Transplant Wait Lists,” Mashable, 06/23/2014.
“From Research to Reward: Matching Kidney Donors with Those Who Need Them—and Other Explorations in Economics,” National Academy of Sciences. 2016. [ VIDEO ]
“How AI Changed Organ Donation in the US,” Quartz, 09/10/2018.
“Market Failure in Kidney Exchange,” VoxEU, 11/03/2018.
“Kidney Swaps Are Revolutionizing a Broken Organ-Donation System in the U.S.” Time, 11/05/2019.
“How an Economist Helped Thousands Get New a Kidney,” BBC, 12/17,2019.

“House Allocation with Existing Tenants: An Equivalence” (joint with Utku Ünver), Games and Economic Behavior 52: 153-185, July 2005. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Room Assignment-Rent Division: A Market Approach” (joint with Atila Abdulkadiroğlu and Utku Ünver), Social Choice and Welfare 22: 515-538, June 2004. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ] Press Coverage

“Dear Dylan: I am getting ripped off in my group house!” Washington Post Wonk blog, 8/24/2013. [ PDF ]

“Kidney Exchange” (joint with Alvin Roth and Utku Ünver), Quarterly Journal of Economics 119-2: 457-488, May 2004. (Also see much detailed NBER working paper version.) [ Abstract ] [ PDF ] [ Policy Impact ] Media

“Cross-donor system planned for region’s kidney patients,” Boston Globe, 6/5/2004.
“Easing the Kidney Shortage,” Wall Street Journal, 6/17/2004. [ PDF ]
“OR Successes Run the Gamut, From Concrete to Kidneys,” SIAM News, 6/25/2004. [ PDF ]
“Kidney Exchange: A Life-Saving Application of Matching Theory,” National Science Foundation-Discoveries, 10/5/2005. [ PDF ]
“Flesh Trade,” Freakonomics, New York Times Magazine, 7/9/2006. [ PDF ]
“Paired donations give organ transplants a brighter future,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/9/2007. [ PDF ]
“Undercover Economist: Stakes in kidneys,” Financial Times, July 13, 2007. [ PDF ]
“A Market for Kidneys?” Wall Street Journal, 11/13/2007. [ PDF ]
“Kidney Exchange,” NBER Reporter, 11/13/2913.
“The Economics of Hope: Kidney Exchange,” The Boston College Chronicle, 03/03/2014. [ VIDEO ]
“Big Data’s Effect on Organ Transplant Wait Lists,” Mashable, 06/23/2014.
“From Research to Reward: Matching Kidney Donors with Those Who Need Them—and Other Explorations in Economics,” National Academy of Sciences. 2016. [ VIDEO ]
“How AI Changed Organ Donation in the US,” Quartz, 09/10/2018.
“Market Failure in Kidney Exchange,” VoxEU, 11/03/2018.
“Kidney Swaps Are Revolutionizing a Broken Organ-Donation System in the U.S.” Time, 11/05/2019.
“How an Economist Helped Thousands Get New a Kidney,” BBC, 12/17,2019.

“An Experimental Study of House Allocation Mechanisms” (joint with Yan Chen), Economics Letters 83-1: 137-140, April 2004. [ PDF ]

“Ordinal Efficiency and Dominated Sets of Assignments” (joint with Atila Abdulkadiroğlu), Journal of Economic Theory 112: 157-172, September 2003. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“School Choice: A Mechanism Design Approach” (joint with Atila Abdulkadiroğlu), American Economic Review 93-3: 729-747, June 2003. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ] [ Policy Impact ] Press Coverage

“School assignment flaws detailed. Two economists study problem, offer relief,” Boston Globe, 9/12/2003.

“Improving Efficiency of On-Campus Housing: An Experimental Study.” (joint with Yan Chen), American Economic Review 92-5: 1669-1686, December 2002. [ Abstract ][ PDF ]

“Core in a Simple Coalition Formation Game.” (joint with Suryapratim Banarjee and Hideo Konishi), Social Choice and Welfare 18: 135-153, 2001. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“House Allocation with Existing Tenants.” (joint with Atila Abdulkadiroğlu), Journal of Economic Theory 88: 233-260, October 1999. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Strategy-Proofness and Essentially Single-Valued Cores.” Econometrica 67: 677-689, May 1999. [ PDF ]

“Can Pre-Arranged Matches be Avoided in Two-Sided Matching Markets?” Journal of Economic Theory 86: 148-156, May 1999. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“A Tale of Two Mechanisms: Student Placement.” (joint with Michel Balinski), Journal of Economic Theory, 84: 73-94, January 1999. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ] [ Policy Impact ]

“Random Serial Dictatorship and the Core from Random Endowments in House Allocation Problems.” (joint with Atila Abdulkadiroğlu), Econometrica 66: 689-701, May 1998. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Manipulation via Capacities in Two-Sided Matching Markets.” Journal of Economic Theory 77: 197-204, November 1997. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Games of Manipulation in Marriage Problems.” Games and Economic Behavior 20: 169-176, 1997. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Implementation of College Admission Rules.” (joint with Tarık Kara), Economic Theory 9: 197-218, 1997. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Implementation in Generalized Matching Problems.” Journal of Mathematical Economics 26: 429-439, 1996. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Strategy-Proofness in Many-to-One Matching Problems.” Economic Design 1: 365-380, 1996.

“Nash Implementation of Matching Rules.” (joint with Tarık Kara), Journal of Economic Theory 68: 425-439, February 1996. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]

“Consistency, Monotonicity, and the Uniform Rule.” Economics Letters 46: 229-235, 1994.

Invited Publications

“Improving Ventilator Rationing Through Collaboration With Experts on Resource Allocation,“(joint with Parag A. Pathak and Utku Ünver), JAMA Network Open, 2020;3(6):e2012838.
Market Design for Living-Donor Organ Exchanges: An Economic Policy Perspective, (with Utku Ünver), Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 33(4), 676–704, November 2017. [ Abstract ] [ PDF ]
“Cadet-Branch Matching,” ACM SIGecom Exchanges, 13(1): 50-57, June 2014. [PDF] [Policy Impact ]
“Market Design for Kidney Exchange.” (with Utku Ünver) Z. Neeman, A. Roth, N. Vulkan (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Market Design, Oxford, 2013. [ PDF ]
“Matching Markets: Theory and Practice.” (joint with Atila Abdulkadiroğlu), D. Acemoglu, M. Arello, and E. Dekel (eds), Advances in Economics and Econometrics, Vol. 1, Cambridge, 3-47, 2013. [ PDF ]
“Matching, Allocation, and Exchange of Discrete Resources.” (joint with Utku Ünver), J. Benhabib, A. Bisin, and M. Jackson (eds.), Handbook of Social Economics, Handbook of Social Economics, Vol. 1A. The Netherlands: North-Holland, (2011) 781-852. [ PDF ]
“Matching.” (joint with Muriel Niederle and Alvin Roth), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2^nd edition, Eds. Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. [ PDF ]
“The Boston Public School Match.” (joint with Atila Abdulkadiroğlu, Parag Pathak and Alvin Roth), American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings, 95-2: 368-371, May 2005. [ PDF ]
“A Kidney Exchange Clearinghouse in New England.” (joint with Alvin Roth and Utku Ünver), American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings, 95-2: 376-380, May 2005. [ PDF ]