This book provides an economic analysis of various aspects of ‘market quality’ using the tools of ‘oligopoly theory’ and ‘auction theory’. While many of the problems are motivated by real-life examples, mostly from emerging economies, the analysis herein is entirely theoretical.

The genesis of ‘oligopoly theory’ can be traced to the nineteenth century with the publication of the seminal work by Augustin Cournot in 1838. The advent of game theory in the twentieth century made possible the formalization of important ideas about oligopolistic competition. Modern ‘auction theory’ began with the remarkable contribution by William Vickrey in 1961. The full flowering of auction theory came later in the 1970s and 1980s. ‘Market quality’ is a relatively new concept that came up in the twenty-first century based on the research of Makoto Yano. This field has not been a part of traditional economics. Its basic idea is that, just as there are high-quality and low-quality products, there are also high-quality and low-quality markets. High-quality markets tend to enrich economic activity; low-quality markets tend to impoverish it. The quality of the market is a crucial link that connects science and technology with economic outcomes.

本书运用“寡头垄断理论”和“拍卖理论”对“市场质量”的各个方面进行了经济分析。虽然许多问题都是由现实生活中的例子（大多来自新兴经济体）引发的，但本文的分析完全是理论上的。

“寡头垄断理论”的起源可以追溯到19世纪，1838年奥古斯丁·古诺发表了开创性的著作。20世纪博弈论的出现使寡头垄断竞争的重要思想得以形式化。现代的“拍卖理论”始于1961年威廉·维克瑞的杰出贡献。拍卖理论的全面繁荣出现在20世纪70年代和80年代后期，“市场质量”是21世纪在Makoto Yano的研究基础上提出的一个相对较新的概念。这个领域并不是传统经济学的一部分。它的基本理念是，正如有高质量和低质量的产品一样，也有高质量和低质量的市场。高质量的市场往往会丰富经济活动，而低质量的市场则会使经济活动更加贫困。市场质量是连接科学技术与经济成果的关键环节。