Efficient Kidney Exchange: Coincidence of Wants in Markets with Compatibility-Based Preferences

47 Pages Posted: 28 Oct 2008

See all articles by Alvin E. Roth

Alvin E. Roth

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Dept. of Economics, Stanford University

Tayfun Sonmez

Boston College - Department of Economics

M. Utku Ünver

Boston College - Department of Economics

Date Written: October 1, 2006

Abstract

Patients needing kidney transplants may have donors who cannot donate to them because of blood or tissue incompatibility. Incompatible patient-donor pairs can exchange donor kidneys with other pairs only when there is a "double coincidence of wants." Developing infrastructure to perform 3-way as well as 2-way exchanges will have a substantial effect on the number of transplants that can be arranged. Larger than 3-way exchanges have less impact on efficiency. In a general model of type-compatible exchanges, the size of the largest exchanges required to achieve efficiency equals the number of types.

JEL Classification: JEL C78, D02, D51, D78, I10

Suggested Citation

Roth, Alvin E. and Roth, Alvin E. and Sonmez, Tayfun Oguz and Ünver, M. Utku, Efficient Kidney Exchange: Coincidence of Wants in Markets with Compatibility-Based Preferences (October 1, 2006). American Economic Review, Vol. 97, No. 3, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1290350

Alvin E. Roth

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Dept. of Economics, Stanford University ( email )

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Tayfun Oguz Sonmez

Boston College - Department of Economics ( email )

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M. Utku Ünver (Contact Author)

Boston College - Department of Economics ( email )

140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
United States

HOME PAGE: http://sites.bc.edu/utku-unver