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Competing trade mechanisms and monotone mechanism choice

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  • Feess, Eberhard
  • Grund, Christian
  • Walzl, Markus
  • Wohlschlegel, Ansgar

Abstract

We investigate the choice between posted prices and auctions of competing sellers with private valuations. Assuming that buyers face higher hassle costs in auctions, we show the existence of monotone pure strategy equilibria where sellers offer posted prices rather than auctions if and only if they have a sufficiently high reservation value. Posted prices sell with lower probability but yield a larger revenue in case of trade. Using an empirical strategy to compare revenues of posted prices and auctions that takes selling probabilities explicitly into account, we find our theoretical predictions supported by data from eBay auctions on ticket sales for the EURO 2008 European Football Championship.

Suggested Citation

  • Feess, Eberhard & Grund, Christian & Walzl, Markus & Wohlschlegel, Ansgar, 2020. "Competing trade mechanisms and monotone mechanism choice," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 280(3), pages 1108-1121.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:280:y:2020:i:3:p:1108-1121
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2019.08.013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Auctions/bidding; Competing sellers; Single-crossing; Posted prices;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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