MIT, Harvard May Swap Economists

Tenure offers between and Harvard, the two economics powerhouses on the Charles, may result in an effective swap of the schools' leading game theory specialists.

Professor of economics Eric S. Maskin is considering a tenure offer at MIT while MIT economics professor Drew Fudenberg has been offered a position here, officials at the two schools said yesterday.

"They're in roughly similar areas" said Peter Temin, chair of the MIT department of economics.

It is not uncommon for corresponding departments at two different schools to each seek a professor at the other, Temin said. "There are examples where there are competing offers," he added.

Game theory, the specialty of both Maskin and Fudenberg, is a model for analyzing situations that involve competition, said Vijay Krishna, an associate professor at the business school.

"In the last 15 year, there has been a big resurgence of the use of game theory in economics," said Krishna, who last year taught a course in game theory for the economics department.

Krishna said both Fudenberg and Maskin are leaders in their field.

"They do overlap a lot but they also have slightly different interpretations." he said.

Temin said MIT offered Maskin a position at the end of last term, and now awaits his response.

"He's a very good theorist," he said of Maskin.

Monrad Professor of Economics Martin L. Weitzman said Maskin has "been a pioneer in applying game theory to all different areas of economics."

Weitzman said Maskin had been a major contributor to the dominance of game theory in the last decade.

Maskin studies economics at Harvard, then taught at MIT before returning here in mid-1980s. Krishna said.

Fudenberg is one of the leading game theorists in the world." said Berkman Professor of Economics Andreu MasColell.

The MIT professor co-authored the leadingtextbook on game theory, Krishna said.

Fudenberg "would be very good for us to have atHarvard" Mas-Colell said. But he said Maskin,whose major work lies in different areas thanFudenberg's, is also valuable to Harvard.

"I hope that Harvard will do whatever isnecessary [top keep him,]" he said

The MIT professor co-authored the leadingtextbook on game theory, Krishna said.

Fudenberg "would be very good for us to have atHarvard" Mas-Colell said. But he said Maskin,whose major work lies in different areas thanFudenberg's, is also valuable to Harvard.

"I hope that Harvard will do whatever isnecessary [top keep him,]" he said