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On the Optimality of Pure Bundling for a Monopolist

Author

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  • Domenico Menicucci
  • Sjaak Hurkens
  • Doh-Shin Jeon

Abstract

This paper considers a monopolist selling two objects to a single buyer with privately observed valuations. We prove that if each buyer's type has a non-negative virtual valuation for each object, then the optimal price schedule is such that the objects are sold only in a bundle; weaker conditions suffice if valuations are independently and identically distributed. Under somewhat stronger conditions, pure bundling is the optimal sale mechanism among all individually rational and incentive compatible mechanisms.

Suggested Citation

  • Domenico Menicucci & Sjaak Hurkens & Doh-Shin Jeon, 2014. "On the Optimality of Pure Bundling for a Monopolist," Working Papers 771, Barcelona School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:771
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    6. Sergiu Hart & Noam Nisan, 2014. "How Good Are Simple Mechanisms for Selling Multiple Goods?," Discussion Paper Series dp666, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
    7. Mark Armstrong, 2000. "Optimal Multi-Object Auctions," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 67(3), pages 455-481.
    8. R. Preston McAfee & John McMillan & Michael D. Whinston, 1989. "Multiproduct Monopoly, Commodity Bundling, and Correlation of Values," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(2), pages 371-383.
    9. , & , J., 2015. "Maximal revenue with multiple goods: nonmonotonicity and other observations," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(3), September.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jeon, Doh-Shin & Hurkens, Sjaak & Menicucci, Domenico, 2016. "Leveraging Dominance with Credible Bundling," CEPR Discussion Papers 11304, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Hart, Sergiu & Nisan, Noam, 2017. "Approximate revenue maximization with multiple items," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 313-347.
    3. Jeon, Doh-Shin & Menicucci, Domenico & Nasr, Nikrooz, 2016. "Compatibility Choices, Switching Costs and Data Portability: On the Role of the Non-Negative Pricing Constraint," TSE Working Papers 16-691, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Aug 2020.
    4. Jian Pei, 2020. "A Survey on Data Pricing: from Economics to Data Science," Papers 2009.04462, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2020.
    5. Tang, Pingzhong & Wang, Zihe, 2017. "Optimal mechanisms with simple menus," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 54-70.
    6. Soheil Ghili, 2021. "A Characterization for Optimal Bundling of Products with Non-Additive Values," Papers 2101.11532, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2022.
    7. Mark Armstrong, 2016. "Nonlinear Pricing," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 8(1), pages 583-614, October.
    8. Saeed Alaei & Ali Makhdoumi & Azarakhsh Malekian & Saša Pekeč, 2022. "Revenue-Sharing Allocation Strategies for Two-Sided Media Platforms: Pro-Rata vs. User-Centric," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(12), pages 8699-8721, December.
    9. Yeon-Koo Che & Weijie Zhong, 2021. "Robustly Optimal Mechanisms for Selling Multiple Goods," Papers 2105.02828, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    10. Bikhchandani, Sushil & Mishra, Debasis, 2022. "Selling two identical objects," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    11. Hart, Sergiu & Nisan, Noam, 2019. "Selling multiple correlated goods: Revenue maximization and menu-size complexity," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 991-1029.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    monopoly pricing; price discrimination; multi-dimensional mechanism design; pure bundling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

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