Lucky by Design

Mastering the Hidden Economics of Who Gets What (When There Isn't Enough for Everyone)

Contributors

By Judd B. Kessler

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$14.99

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$19.99 CAD

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ebook

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ebook $14.99 $19.99 CAD

What’s the secret to scoring a reservation at a hot new restaurant? Why did your neighbor’s kid get a spot at the nearby pre-school while yours didn’t? Who gets the last dessert in the freezer, the new iPhone on the day it’s released, or the best match on a dating app?

We tend to think these outcomes are matter of luck. But in truth, every day we encounter countless hidden markets that determine how scarce resources are allocated – everything from tickets to almost-sold-out concerts, to life-saving organ donations, to the scarcest resource of all: your time and attention. Yet despite their outsized influence on our everyday lives, few of us fully understand how these markets work.

In traditional markets, what you get depends on what you are willing to pay for it. Hidden markets, in contrast, do not rely on prices. Instead, what you get hinges on a combination of your own choices, and the rules by which the market operates.
 
Regardless of the market you are playing in, you need to know the rules of the game to win it. In Lucky by Design, Kessler reveals how to master the rules of any market: how to spot them, how they operate, and how to maneuver in them to come out on top.

On Sale
Oct 14, 2025
Page Count
320 pages
Publisher
Little Brown Spark
ISBN-13
9780316566841

Judd B. Kessler

About the Author

Judd B. Kessler is the inaugural Howard Marks Endowed Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. In 2021, Kessler was awarded the prestigious Vernon L. Smith Ascending Scholar Prize for his path breaking scholarship. For his work on organ allocation, Kessler was named one of the "30 under 30" in Law and Policy by Forbes. He is an award-winning teacher whose courses are popular among undergraduates, MBAs, PhD students, and executives, as well as a sought-after speaker. His research and writing have been featured in leading media, such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Scientific American, Harvard Business Review, Politico, NPR, Hidden Brain, and Freakonomics, among others. He received a bachelor's degree, MA, and PhD from Harvard University and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge. At Harvard, Kessler trained with Nobel laureate Alvin E. Roth, one of the founders of market design, the area in which he has been conducting research for the past fifteen years.

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