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Robust Screens for Noncompetitive Bidding in Procurement Auctions

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  • Sylvain Chassang
  • Kei Kawai
  • Jun Nakabayashi
  • Juan Ortner

Abstract

We document a novel bidding pattern observed in procurement auctions from Japan: winning bids tend to be isolated, and there is a missing mass of close losing bids. This pattern is suspicious in the following sense: its extreme forms are inconsistent with competitive behavior under arbitrary information structures. Building on this observation, we develop systematic tests of competitive behavior in procurement auctions that allow for general information structures as well as nonstationary unobserved heterogeneity. We provide an empirical exploration of our tests, and show they can help identify other suspicious patterns in the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Sylvain Chassang & Kei Kawai & Jun Nakabayashi & Juan Ortner, 2022. "Robust Screens for Noncompetitive Bidding in Procurement Auctions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(1), pages 315-346, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:emetrp:v:90:y:2022:i:1:p:315-346
    DOI: 10.3982/ECTA17155
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Rohit Lamba & Sergey Zhuk, 2022. "Pricing with algorithms," Papers 2205.04661, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2022.
    3. Hannes Wallimann & David Imhof & Martin Huber, 2023. "A Machine Learning Approach for Flagging Incomplete Bid-Rigging Cartels," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 62(4), pages 1669-1720, December.
    4. Cappelletti, Matilde & Giuffrida, Leonardo M., 2021. "Procuring survival," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-093, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Hannes Wallimann & Silvio Sticher, 2023. "On suspicious tracks: machine-learning based approaches to detect cartels in railway-infrastructure procurement," Papers 2304.11888, arXiv.org.
    6. Narita, Yusuke & Yata, Kohei, 2022. "Algorithm is Experiment: Machine Learning, Market Design, and Policy Eligibility Rules," CEI Working Paper Series 2021-05, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    7. Lu, Jiaxuan, 2023. "The economics of China’s between-city height competition: A regression discontinuity approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    8. Narita, Yusuke & Yata, Kohei, 2022. "Algorithm is Experiment: Machine Learning, Market Design, and Policy Eligibility Rules," Discussion Paper Series 730, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.

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