Implementation theory is an area of research in game theory concerned with whether a class of mechanisms (or institutions) can be designed whose equilibrium outcomes implement a given set of normative goals or welfare criteria.
[2] In the case of producing and allocating public/private goods, solution concepts are focused on finding dominant strategies.
In his paper "Counterspeculation, Auctions, and Competitive Sealed Tenders", William Vickrey showed that if preferences are restricted to the case of quasi-linear utility functions then the mechanism dominant strategy is dominant-strategy implementable.
"[2] However, the payments to agents become large, sacrificing budget neutrality to incentive compatibility.
In some textbooks, the entire field of mechanism design is called implementation theory.