Ig Nobel Economics and Management Prizes

1 October 2010 at 9:27 am Peter G. Klein 5 comments

| Peter Klein |

Thanks to Stéphane Saussier for reminding me that the 2010 Ig Nobel Prizes have been announced. The Economics award is a bit predictable:

ECONOMICS PRIZE: The executives and directors of Goldman Sachs, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Magnetar for creating and promoting new ways to invest money — ways that maximize financial gain and minimize financial risk for the world economy, or for a portion thereof.

But I’m particularly interested in the Management prize. I hadn’t heard of the paper, but anything with “Peter” in the title must be good:

MANAGEMENT PRIZE: Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo of the University of Catania, Italy, for demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random.

REFERENCE: “The Peter Principle Revisited: A Computational Study,” Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo, Physica A, vol. 389, no. 3, February 2010, pp. 467-72.

Entry filed under: - Klein -, Ephemera.

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5 Comments Add your own

1. Stéphane Saussier | 1 October 2010 at 9:31 am

After the “Klein effect”, the “Peter Principle”… How famous you are Peter. Nicolai will be jealous soon!
2. Peter Klein | 1 October 2010 at 9:33 am

Don’t forget Klein Blue and the Klein Bottle!
3. Brian Saxton | 1 October 2010 at 9:41 am

I haven’t read that paper either, but is it not the case that if you retain neoclassical assumptions, random promotion is as good as any other method?
4. David Hoopes | 1 October 2010 at 11:12 am

It’s rather humbling to go down the list of prize winner accomplishments. I think if I place my work more carefully I could make it quite laughable. This merits serious consideration. Usually people cry when they read my work. Oh well.
5. FC | 2 October 2010 at 3:38 am

in the 20th c. some Israeli kibbutzes would periodically reassign at random all positions, from dishwasher to treasurer, among the members. The efficiency of this practice may be judged by the fact that none still do it.