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Best Foot Forward or Best for Last in a Sequential Auction?

Author

Listed:
  • Archishman Chakraborty

    (Baruch College, CUNY)

  • Nandini Gupta

    (Indiana University)

  • Rick Harbaugh

    (Indiana University)

Abstract

Should a seller with private information sell the best or worst goods first? Considering the sequential auction of two stochastically equivalent goods, we find that the seller has an incentive to impress buyers by selling the better good first because the seller's sequencing strategy endogenously generates correlation in the values of the goods across periods. When this impression effect is strong enough, selling the better good first is the unique pure-strategy equilibrium. By credibly revealing to all buyers the seller's ranking of the goods, an equilibrium strategy of sequencing the goods reduces buyer information rents and increases expected revenues in accordance with the linkage principle.

Suggested Citation

  • Archishman Chakraborty & Nandini Gupta & Rick Harbaugh, 2006. "Best Foot Forward or Best for Last in a Sequential Auction?," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(1), pages 176-194, Spring.
    • Handle: RePEc:rje:randje:v:37:y:2006:1:p:176-194
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Grether, David M. & Plott, Charles R., 2009. "Sequencing strategies in large, competitive, ascending price automobile auctions: An experimental examination," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 75-88, August.
    2. Pitchik, Carolyn, 2009. "Budget-constrained sequential auctions with incomplete information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 928-949, July.
    3. Laurent Lamy, 2007. "On the Comparative Statics of the Optimal Reserve Price : A Comment on "Reserve price Signaling"," Working Papers 2007-23, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    4. Rosato, Antonio, 2014. "Loss Aversion in Sequential Auctions: Endogenous Interdependence, Informational Externalities and the "Afternoon Effect"," MPRA Paper 56824, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Archishman Chakraborty & Rick Harbaugh, 2014. "Persuasive Puffery," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 382-400, May.
      • Archishman Chakraborty & Rick Harbaugh, 2012. "Persuasive Puffery," Working Papers 2012-05, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    6. Cem Ozturk, O. & Karabatı, Selçuk, 2017. "A decision support framework for evaluating revenue performance in sequential purchase contexts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 263(3), pages 922-934.
    7. Fanqi Shi & Yiqing Xing, 2022. "Implementing optimal outcomes through sequential auctions," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(4), pages 703-732, December.
    8. Ma, Gang & Zheng, Junjun & Wei, Ju & Wang, Shilei & Han, Yefan, 2021. "Robust optimization strategies for seller based on uncertainty sets in context of sequential auction," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 390(C).
    9. Gupta, Nandini & Ham, Jhon C. & Svejnar, Jan, 2008. "Priorities and sequencing in privatization: Evidence from Czech firm panel data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 183-208, February.
    10. Rosato, Antonio, 2023. "Loss aversion in sequential auctions," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 18(2), May.
    11. Archishman Chakraborty & Rick Harbaugh, 2010. "Persuasion by Cheap Talk," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2361-2382, December.
      • Archishman Chakraborty & Rick Harbaugh, 2006. "Persuasion by Cheap Talk," Working Papers 2006-10, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, revised Oct 2009.
    12. Eric Schmidbauer, 2013. "New and Improved?," Working Papers 2013-01, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    13. Ridderstedt, Ivan & Nilsson, Jan-Eric, 2023. "Economies of scale versus the costs of bundling: Evidence from procurements of highway pavement replacement," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    14. Paul Pezanis-Christou, 2013. "Asymmetric Multiple-Object First-Price Auctions," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2013-07, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    15. Fesselmeyer, Eric & Liu, Haoming, 2014. "Dynamic pricing in the Singapore condominium market," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 147-150.
    16. Goeree, Jacob K. & Offerman, Theo & Schram, Arthur, 2006. "Using first-price auctions to sell heterogeneous licenses," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 555-581, May.

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