How should institutions be designed that “work” in bringing about desirable social outcomes? I study a case of successful institutional design—the redesign of the National Resident Matching Program—and argue that economists assume three roles when designing an institution, each of which complements the other two: first, the designer combines positive and normative modeling to formalize policy goals and to design possible mechanisms for bringing them about. Second, the engineer refines the design by conducting experiments and computational analyses. Third, the plumber implements the design in the real world and mends it as needed.

中文翻译：

---

如何建立一个机构

应该如何设计能够“工作”以实现理想的社会成果的机构？我研究了一个成功的机构设计案例，即《美国居民匹配计划》的重新设计，并认为经济学家在设计机构时承担着三个角色，每个角色与其他两个角色相辅相成：首先，设计师结合了积极和规范化的模型来规范政策。目标并设计实现这些目标的可能机制。其次，工程师通过进行实验和计算分析来完善设计。第三，水管工在现实世界中实施设计并根据需要进行修改。