We study auctions where bidders have private information about their entry costs and the seller does not benefit from these entry costs. We consider a symmetric environment where all bidders have the same value for the object being sold, and also an asymmetric environment where bidders may have different valuations for the object. In these environments, the seller’s pay-off as well as the social surplus may either increase or decrease in the number of bidders though not necessarily in the same direction. The auction designs that maximize the social surplus or the seller’s pay-off are analysed.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number
4080.
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Roger B. Myerson, 1978.
"Optimal Auction Design,"
Discussion Papers
362, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
[Downloadable!]
McAfee, R. Preston & McMillan, John, 1987.
"Auctions with entry,"
Economics Letters,
Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 343-347.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Riley, John G & Samuelson, William F, 1981.
"Optimal Auctions,"
American Economic Review,
American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 381-92, June.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)